


It's Dark Inside

by AwakeAndAliveSpartan



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Always has been SHIELD, And Ward was never Hydra in this, F/M, Gonna be a bumpy ride, M for mainly violence, Mid S1, Past Child Abuse, Skye finding out what he really is and learning to accept him, Werewolf AU, Werewolf! Ward, s1 au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-11 15:13:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 49,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5631157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwakeAndAliveSpartan/pseuds/AwakeAndAliveSpartan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye always knew that Grant Ward was different from the others from the moment they met. She just thought it was because he was a superspy and not because of what hid inside of him. And it wasn't until she witnessed the man she loved transform into a wolf creature to protect her that she realized just what he was. And things were going to get even darker from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of What's Inside Me

Skye always knew that there was something _off_ about Grant Ward from the moment when they first laid eyes on each other, and that’s when he threw a bag over her head. But she just knew that something about him wasn’t right. He had always kept to himself, avoiding the others and staying alone. And when he was around the rest of the team, he just didn’t act right.

It wasn’t until the day the two were trapped in the middle of a Centipede base together with no way out when she figured out the truth about what Grant Ward really was.

Ward slumped down to the floor, back against the wall, right after he had sealed the supply room shut. He gritted his teeth against the growing pain in his chest, looking up at the ceiling with his eyes closed.

“Ward, what’s going on?” Skye asked, sitting down next to him. “We’re trapped, aren’t we?”

Ward bit his lip after taking a sharp breath and looked over to the young ‘agent’, “Unfortunately, we are, Skye.” he replied. “Centipede has us surrounded and outnumbered. Communications are cut and we’re separated from the others. I don’t think that there’s any way out of this.”

The color drained from Skye’s face as she realized that they were probably going to die. She was about to say something when Ward groaned in pain.

He gritted his teeth once more and shook his head, “Dammit. Not here, not now.” he growled slightly.

“Ward, are you okay?” Skye asked, seeing that Ward’s eyes were glazed over and sweat beaded his forehead.

Ward shrugged it off, “Yeah, I’m fine.” he flat-out lied. “I just get a little panicky in situations like this. That’s all.”

“What?” Skye scoffed. “That’s a lie, Ward. You, the Tin-Man, of all people doesn’t get panicky. Something else is wrong with you.”

“I think I bruised a rib or something. Could be fractured somewhat. Those soldiers really pack a punch.” Ward continued to lie through his teeth. He was supposed to be the ultimate superspy, the best in lying. But he could hardly keep the façade up. The pain through his body was just too much.

He grimaced as shouts and explosions sounded outside and he shook his head, “Skye, we’re not going to be able to hide in here for long. We’re either gonna have to run and fight or stay here and die.”

“Ward, that’s crazy. We’re just two people. We can’t possibly take on a squadron of Centipede soldiers. The others are missing and we’re trapped. You said it yourself, there’s no way out of this.”

Another wave of pain shot through Ward’s body, and his glazed-over eyes darkened as he knew what to do. It was extremely dangerous though, the last resort. “There is one possible way. It’s very dangerous. It may get the both of us hurt, but we may be able to get out of here. I haven’t done it in so long….”

Skye frowned, “What the hell are you talking about?”

Ward gulped and looked over to Skye, regret and pain in his still glazed-over eyes, “Skye, there are things about me that I wanted to keep from you. Things that would either make you run or turn against me. Not a lot of people know this about me, but there’s more to me than what you can see right now.” he began. He took a long, ragged breath and stood to his feet with his back to Skye, “There’s more to this strange world than aliens and gods. There’s monsters that have been here for centuries. Beasts that prowl the dark, that hunt and kill. Ones that hide in human skin.”

Skye stood up, extremely confused, “What do you mean?” she asked, completely unsure of what he was talking about. “What the hell are you going on about? Ward, we’re in a base full of supersoldiers and we could die. Now you’re spewing nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense when it’s the painful truth.” Ward said, a hint of self-hate in his voice. “It’s dangerous, but it could very well get us out of here. It’s not a good idea, hell it’s far from it. But I don’t want you to die.”

“What’s not a good idea?”

“Skye, you’re not gonna like what you see. Just promise me that you won’t run away.” he pleaded, his back still to her. “Sometimes the monsters you read about in fairy tales are real, Skye. And they’re not all bad.”

“What? Ward, you aren’t making any sense. What monsters are you talking about?” Skye asked, eyeing the Night Night Gun on her side. She was afraid that Ward had gone crazy. She didn’t know what the hell was going on.

“Me.”

Skye gasped and stumbled backwards as Ward slowly turned around to reveal that he didn’t even look like himself anymore. His face had morphed into that of a wolfish look. His eyes were glowing a bright red and his brow and nose area had become more defined. Even his ears had grown pointed and his nails had turned into long claws.

“What the hell?” Skye squeaked out, hand still over her mouth. “W-What are you?” she stammered.

“A thing of legend.” Ward said, his voice pained. It hurt him that she had to see him like this. And it was only going to get worse. “A monster, a myth. I shouldn’t exist, but I do. A curse from when I was born.” Skye could see that his canines had grown long and sharp. “And this is only the beginnings of it.”

Skye didn’t respond, but only stared at Ward’s now-monstrous features.

“It’s okay to stare, it’s not the worst I’ve been through.” He took a step forward and Skye took a step back. He gulped, knowing that Skye had grown afraid, “I’m not going to hurt you, Skye. I promise you. I just want to get us out of here and I found that this was the only way.”

Skye’s mouth hung slightly agape, “Then what are you?” she asked, her head swimming.

Ward blinked and sighed, “I told you that you wouldn’t like this. Like I said, a thing of myth. Half-man,”

“Half-wolf.” Skye finished for him. “Werewolf. But how? How the hell is this possible?”

Ward shrugged, “Runs in the family, a curse dating back a few centuries. Hasn’t affected anyone in about a century except for me.” he explained weakly. “I’ve been like this for several years,” A loud crash from outside made him jump and lose topic. He spun around and growled, literally, at the door before looking back at Skye, “We don’t have much time, I’m gonna have to do this. Please, just promise me that you won’t run. I’m fine with you being afraid, I’m used to it. Just please don’t run.”

“I-I promise.” Skye stammered, backing up as she was unsure of what was going on.

He took off his weaponry and threw it aside, “I won’t be needing these.” He shrugged off his bulletproof vest and threw it aside. Taking one last pained look at Skye, Ward stepped towards the door and started to _change_.

Skye watched in horror as he started to grow bigger, clothes ripping and shedding as bones shifted and cracked, moving into new places. Hands formed into claws as long, black _fur_ grew from his skin and a tail of all things began to form. A growl of pain ripped from his chest as his nose and mouth elongated into a snout.

And then Grant Ward was technically no more. A massive wolf creature, well over seven feet tall, stood in his place. A soft whine was heard as the creature turned to face Skye.

Skye gulped and stepped forward as the wolf-Ward kneeled down. His red, pained eyes looked into hers and she somehow knew that he was still there and he wasn’t going to hurt her. “W-Grant?” she asked.

The creature snorted in reply as Skye reached out a hand and placed it on his now-massive head. She ran her hand through his soft, black fur, Ward whining in approval, tilting his head slightly as she went along.

“It really is you. But how is this possible?” Skye muttered. “This can’t be real.”

Another crash sounded from outside in the hallway and Ward growled and spun around, the fur on his back bristling and his tail down. He looked back to Skye with those red, pleading eyes, waiting for her to say something.

Skye gulped, knowing this was what Ward was talking about. He had shifted to fight the soldiers so the both of them could get out of here alive. He had done something so painful to himself so she could live. She nodded, “Let’s get out of here.” she said, her voice barely a croak.

Ward growled and ripped the door apart, throwing the remains aside as he ran out into the hallway and left Skye in the room. Screams could be heard as she remained motionless in the room, unsure of what to do.

She had just seen the man she had been falling for transform into a massive wolf creature, a werewolf of all things. It still came as a shock to her that such creatures existed, but it really wasn’t surprising in the world they lived in now.

Skye took a breath and withdrew her gun, the actual one, and ran out into the hallway after the transformed Ward. She just didn’t know what she was getting herself into by going along with this all.

This revelation was about to turn everything upside down.


	2. I Feel Like a Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward explains things to Skye after she witnessed his change.

**Chapter Two (I Feel Like a Monster)**

(A Few Hours Later)

Skye sat in the main area of the Bus, her head still swarming from the revelation that Ward was half-wolf. It didn’t help that she had witnessed it all unfold. The way how Ward’s human form had ripped, torn and reshaped into that of a wolf-like creature had frightened her. She gulped and looked over to the bunks, seeing that Ward’s was still closed.

He had shut himself in there about two hours ago, soon after getting back on. Skye had heard Coulson scolding him and she assumed that he had already known about Ward’s ‘problem’ and that he was angry at the man for putting her in danger like that.

She stood to her feet and walked towards Ward’s bunk, stopping right outside the closed door. There was a moment of hesitation before she knocked, unsure if she really wanted to confront him or not after what had happened. Skye took a breath and knocked lightly.

A few tense seconds went by before there was a response. “Who is it?” she heard Ward ask, his voice a little edgy and defeated-sounding.

“It’s Skye.”

Another several seconds went by before he responded again. “You can come in.” he muttered, his voice barely audible.

Skye gulped and slid the door open, walking into the narrowness of Ward’s perfectly clean bunk. His regret-filled eyes nodded at her and looked to the open space behind her.

“Can you close that?” he asked softly. “I don’t like it being open like this.” He lowered his voice, “And the others could hear us.”

Skye nodded and slid the door shut, sitting on the edge of the bed a few feet away from Ward.

Ward looked up, his eyes drilling into hers, “You came back.” he said, voice strained. “You didn’t run away like I thought you would.”

She gulped, “Why would I?” she asked.

“Because you saw _that_ side of me, Skye.” he replied. “No one is ever supposed to see it. I’ve kept it under lock and key for so damn long and I blew it. I put you in danger because I thought it could get us out of there. I know it did get us out, but there was a chance that it would’ve killed you all.”

He scoffed, “Coulson’s the only one that knows, other than a few higher-ups that watch me. I’m never supposed to unleash it. I use its strength, its speed, and everything else it gives me. But I’m not supposed to _shift._ He just chewed me out for that. I could’ve killed you.”

Ward was talking about a hundred miles an hour and it was hard for Skye to keep up with what he was saying. He was panicked. He was regretting what he had shown her. And most of all, Skye was confused about it all.

“How?” was all she asked. “How it is possible?”

Ward shrugged, taking his gaze away from her, “Not quite sure. Runs in the family. Doesn’t affect everyone, just certain people. But I’ve been the only one in the past century. I really don’t know the details of it, other than that it goes back several centuries.” He sighed and leaned his head back onto the wall behind him, “Most of it started when I was thirteen.”

Skye frowned, “Thirteen? That young?”

Ward nodded slowly, “That’s when I first shifted. It’s not due to the classic full moon thing, it’s tied with emotions. I think the full moon used to have something to do with it, but it changed somehow.” He shook his head, “I honestly don’t remember _why_ it happened other than I was so angry at my family. Then I remember pain like I was being torn apart then flashes of terror on my family’s faces. Then I woke up in our basement, locked in there and everything destroyed all around me.” he explained. “But that wasn’t the beginning of my problems.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think my parents always suspected that I was different, but I don’t ever think the curse ever came to mind. I was always faster and stronger than anyone I went to school with.” Ward said, keeping his gaze on the ceiling. “So I was always ridiculed for that. But when I changed, everything went to hell. My parents and older brother tried to have me _killed_ several times. But I can’t be killed that easily. I still have the scars from that.

Then they sent me off to military school so I could be out of their hair and just be forgotten. I honestly think they wanted the military to find out what I was so I could be taken away. But as long as I was gone…” He sighed and looked to her, distant pain in his eyes. “That didn’t last long.”

Skye took a long breath, this was the longest that Ward had probably ever talked. So she knew this was big stuff. “Then what happened?”

“The rage hit again. I escaped and tried to burn down the house. Didn’t know my older brother was inside. Got sent to juvie, they wanted me to be tried as an adult. That’s when Coulson came.”

Skye remembered that Coulson had been Ward’s SO, but she didn’t imagine that it happened like this. She didn’t even know that Ward had been in juvie. He just seemed too good to be true. “He knew about everything?”

Ward nodded, “He thought that they could use me as a great fighter, but didn’t know about my ‘problem’ at first. Coulson got me out and then into the Academy where I was under special supervision once they found out. Coulson took me as his rookie and I went wherever he went so nothing would happen to me.” he explained. “Like I said, only a few know about me.”

“No one’s ever found out?”

“Some have, but to protect me they were reassigned far away from me. Because of this ‘gift’, I’m one of SHIELD’s top agents and fighters, they don’t want to lose me because of some idiot that would be scared of me.” Pain started to fill his eyes, “That’s why I was so hesitant to shift back there even though I was almost certain that it would save us. I knew that there would be a possibility that you would be taken away to ‘protect’ me.”

Skye blinked, her stomach falling. Ward wasn’t making any sense. Well, most of this wasn’t making much sense. All this talk about werewolves and curses hurt her head. “What?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Ward looked down, avoiding Skye’s gaze once more, “I didn’t want to lose you. I didn’t want SHIELD to take you away from me. Hell, I’m surprised that Coulson let me be your SO. I can’t get attached to anyone. Once they find me out, they’re gone the next day. It’s happened several times.

I’ve kept this from you to protect you, Skye. Even though I’m sure Coulson wouldn’t do such a thing since he does like you, I can’t help but to be afraid. And this thing could hurt you if I happen to lose control. I don’t want you getting hurt because of my rage. The angrier I get, the stronger I get, but the more out of control I become.

And my own thinking is gone then. No one on this plane is safe if I ever get like that, not even you. I wish you didn’t know this. I wish it still was a secret.”

“Ward, I think we would be worse off if I didn’t know.” Skye stated, looking at him in the eyes. “It’s better that I do know. A secret like that is dangerous to keep. I need to be in the know the next time my SO suddenly becomes a massive wolf-beast.”

Ward blinked and looked away, “You’re scared, aren’t you?” he asked quietly. “You’re scared of me. I see the fear in your eyes, hell I can _smell_ it.”

Skye didn’t want to know about that last part, so she didn’t ask. She sighed, “Honestly, I kind of am. But, it’s just trying to take everything in. Seeing you become something like that would really rattle someone.” she replied.

He nodded and looked to the wall. Skye watched as he stuck out his right index finger and the nail became a claw. He started to scratch on the wall mindlessly and Skye could now see the thousands of scratches on the walls of the bunk. It looked as though they had been repainted several times to cover them up. She didn’t want to know whether he did all of this in boredom, or something else caused him to do so.

Ward replied after several seconds of silence. “That’s understandable.” he stated, still continuing to scratch. “Anyone would be. As long as you don’t end up like my family did. Fear makes people do some crazy things, even if that means trying to kill your own kin.”

He looked back to Skye and retracted the claw, “I’ve lived a hard life because of this, Skye. Even though my time in SHIELD is much better than my childhood, I still live in fear every day.” A red light briefly shone in his eyes before he looked away, “I’m afraid that I’ll end up killing someone way too close to me. I’m afraid of myself.”

Skye blinked and gulped, not sure of what to say to Ward. Self-hate and regret poured from his voice. She had no idea that her SO was so damaged, she had no idea of what he went through every day.

Ward spoke up again, “I’ll try my best not to hurt you, Skye.” he said, his eyes pleading. “I will.”

Skye remained silent, still unsure of what to say.

Noting this silence, Ward nodded slowly, “I think I want some alone time now, Skye.” he said softly. “We can talk more later. I just don’t feel very well right now.” Weariness shone in his whiskey-brown eyes and purplish bags hung underneath his eyes. “The change takes a lot out of me. I’ll be in here if you happen to need me. Just don’t tell anyone else yet about this. I’ll tell them in time.”

He turned to face the wall, his back to her. Skye took this as her cue to leave and she left the bunk quietly, not saying a word to her SO. Her head was still spinning from everything that Ward had told her. It was still hard to believe that the man was an actual werewolf, an actual living and breathing werewolf.

She sighed and sat down on the couch in the lounge, her eyes drifting to Ward’s closed bunk. And as she saw Fitzsimmons and Triplett coming into the lounge, her stomach churned.

_“How the hell am I supposed to keep this from them?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And as you can tell, this is a complete AU. Garrett never made it to Ward, so it was Coulson who found him and took him in. Everything would be hell right now if Garrett had picked up a young werewolf Ward. And Trip's always been with the team. And I made Ward's family history slightly darker because of the curse, so there's that. And like always, keep the comments and kudos coming!


	3. There's Death in These Veins, You Just Can't See it for the Blood.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye gets a little more backstory to how dangerous Ward really is.

(A Few Days Later)

Ward was still skittish around Skye, even after he had told her the truth about himself. Skye only assumed that he was still afraid to be around her after what she had seen, that he would somehow end up hurting her. She told him countless times that she would be okay, but he refused to believe so.

And Skye had the tremendous task of keeping Ward’s secret from Fitzsimmons and Triplett. Which was hard to do since they kept asking her what was wrong with him. She had noticed how different he acted than everyone else in the past few days, which was probably why the others were asking about him.

She noticed how he was trying to hold back his brute strength while doing everyday things. Ward really didn’t know how strong he actually was, but he had figured it was several times more than the most elite SHIELD agent. And he was as fast as hell too.

Skye had taken it upon herself to make dog jokes towards Ward, seeing that he actually acted like a big, clumsy dog other than a human being. Now, Ward didn’t mind it, but it did become annoying after a while. It only had been five days, and if he had to hear ‘good boy’ one more time…

But Ward was surprised to how well Skye had taken it. Usually, anyone that knew what he was ended up being scared as hell and running away. Some ended up resulting to violence from fear. Just like his family. He couldn’t help what he was, he just had to learn to deal with the crap that came with being a werewolf.

But he actually felt better after telling Skye. If the woman he secretly loved accepted him for who he was, then maybe everything wasn’t all that bad. Even still, that ever-present fear was still there. That fear that the monster would get the best of him and he would end up killing everyone around him, not caring who’s blood he spilled. Or who he devoured.

There was always this deep hunger within that Ward always ignored. A wolf’s hunger, that’s what it was. A fearsome, vicious hunger that always wanted _more_. And Ward didn’t really know what it wanted, and he was afraid to find out.

Maybe it wanted blood, maybe that’s what it wanted. But he wasn’t going to give that to it. Starve it, maybe it would die and leave him behind. And maybe then he could actually know what it meant to be human.

But he wouldn’t know that feeling anytime soon.

This _hunger_ would always be with him, no matter what. And it made Ward sick.

And days like these, the quiet and calm days, were the ones that brought this out since there was nothing else to distract him from so. And these were the days that he was terrified to have anyone come around him. There was no telling to what could happen.

Ward sighed, tightening his fists until he felt his claws form and cut his palms. Too much, it was too much today. His already-acute sense of smell was heightened to a point where it was painful. He tried to shut himself away in his bunk, away from anyone else. If someone tried to bother him…

And of course, someone would bother him. He looked up, sensing that Skye was outside of his bunk. He tried to make it look as though he wasn’t completely miserable as she slid the door open.

“Hey, Fido, you okay in here?” she asked, coming in and shutting the door behind her.

“You’ve really got to stop with the dog jokes, Skye. I’m not really a dog.”

Skye frowned, “Why not? You kind of act like one.”

“What I am isn’t something to joke about. It’s a monster, a demon. Something that kills when it doesn’t get its way or you piss it off.” Ward said, and Skye couldn’t help but to noticed a pained look in his eyes. “And trust me, it’s happened before.”

“Wait, you’ve killed someone like that before?” Skye asked, a crack in her voice as she sat on the edge of his bed.

Ward nodded numbly, “There was this guy, we really didn’t hit it off on the right foot anyways. There was this mission that I ‘ruined’ for him. I was doing my job, got him out of there before he could die.” He shrugged, “But no, he wanted to extract something from the enemy servers. Got beyond pissed with me.

He didn’t like me anyways because I was Coulson’s ‘pet’. He hated how I got special treatment that no one else got. He was kind of like you. A hacker, liked to dig. But you’re way better though.

He thought he could find why I was so much more ‘special’ than everyone else. He dug in my files. I’m Indexed because I’m technically a gifted, but Coulson and a few other higher-ups are the only ones that have access. But he got in and found out my secret.”

“What did he do?” Skye asked, noticing how pained Ward was becoming talking about this. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I’m okay.” Ward muttered before going on. “He confronted me. Called me a monster and a few other things that I won’t mention again. And I just _snapped._ I honestly don’t remember what happens. There’s flashes of blood, the sound of alarms. Then I woke up in some desolate part of the base, everything stained with blood. Even my face.

I tore that guy apart. Ripped him to shreds because he pissed the beast off.” he continued. “Pretty sure that I, no, _it_ ate some of him too. It took weeks for Coulson to finally convince me that it wasn’t my fault, that it wasn’t me. And he did a great job of covering it up, because no one to this day knows who that wolf-beast was.”

Ward sighed and shook his head, “That’s why my ‘problem’ isn’t something to joke about, Skye.” he said softly. “Because it’s a monster, an abomination. One wrong thing and I snap, and there’s no telling to who will get killed in the process. There’s no stopping me when I shift.

The other day I just happened to be in complete control. That’s a rare sight. You don’t want to see me when I don’t, Skye. You would rather run than stay around me then. I’m a monster. A mistake. I should’ve never been born.” He looked away and shied from Skye.

“W-Grant, don’t be like that.” Skye said, taking his hand. Ward tensed up at the sudden contact, but he still kept his gaze from her as she continued. “You can’t help what you are. You can’t help what hides inside of you.”

“Why are you so accepting of this, Skye?” Ward asked, gaze still kept away. “Others tend to run. Why don’t you?”

“I’ve seen worse in this world other than a man that shifts into a massive-wolf beast. And I know that you are not the monster you claim that you are.” she said. “I think you’ve protected me a fair share of times since I got on this plane. Does that speak monster to you?”

“I…” he trailed off. “No, it’s what I become. I can’t stop it when it comes out. I don’t want it to hurt you. I don’t want you to get killed.” The look in his eyes was sincere and Skye could tell that he really did care for her, he just didn’t want to admit anything yet. “I don’t… I don’t want to lose you.”

Skye blinked and gulped, practically acknowledging what he was saying. Did he actually _love_ her? So it was an unspoken word between the two of them that the both of them cared for each other, but the neither of them wanted to admit so.

She squeezed his hand, “I promise you, Grant, you will be fine.” she said softly. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”

“But what if it wants blood? What if it wants to kill?”

“I’m more than sure that you can control it. I saw it happen the other day.” Skye smiled as she saw hope gleam in Ward’s whiskey-brown eyes, something that she hadn’t seen in them for a while now. “You will be fine. The both of us will be fine.”

“Are you sure? I have a hard time believing in such. I don’t believe in things such as hope. You really can’t when you’re like me.” Ward said, looking her up and down. “Can your words really keep to the truth?”

She smiled at him, “I’m sure, Fido.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	4. These Bones Hide the Blood that Stains My Hands.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson notices something is up with Ward, and things start to go downhill.

(Two Days Later)

Coulson looked over the team, eyes going to Ward more than anyone else. He could tell that Ward had been acting strangely lately. Ward was a little more irritable and depressed than usual. Coulson didn’t know what the deal was, but he knew that that was a bad combination for the werewolf.

“Now, we’re going on the mission the day after tomorrow. You have your assigned partners and your intel. Dismissed.” Coulson said. He looked to Ward as he and Skye were walking out. “Grant, I want you to see you real quick. And just Grant, sorry Skye.”

Ward nodded and looked to Skye worriedly. She gave him a slight smile before leaving him and Coulson alone in the Holocom room. Ward looked back to Coulson, “What’s the matter, sir?” he asked.

“Are you feeling alright, Grant?” Coulson asked in response. “You’ve been acting a little strange lately. Is everything okay?”

Ward feigned confusion, “What do you mean? I feel fine.” he lied through his teeth. Of course he wasn’t fine. His wolf’s hunger had been practically tearing him apart since the other day, and he felt miserable. And that hunger led to rage, which he wasn’t being very successful in repressing. He wasn’t quite sure to why it was acting up so bad, maybe it had to do with his shift from the other day. And it actually worried him, but he wasn’t going to let that show.

“Grant, you can be honest with me here. I’ve know you for over half of your life. If there is something wrong with you, you can tell me.” Coulson continued, looking Ward straight in the eyes. “I know you’re normally pretty hotheaded, but you’ve been pretty snappy lately. What is going on with you? You know it’s dangerous to keep things like this hidden.”

Ward shrugged, “I just feel kind of strange, that’s all.” he replied. “I guess it’s a bad cold, that’s all.”

“Grant, colds don’t cause you to have anger problems, something else is going on.” Coulson lowered his voice, “You remember what happened the last time you kept a problem from me. You lost yourself and someone died. I don’t want that to happen again, you almost never came back.” His voice was low and soft. “If there is a problem, we need to fix it now before something like that happens again. You can tell me.”

“I’ve just…” Ward shook his head. “I’ve been afraid ever since Skye found out.”

“You’re afraid that you will hurt her, aren’t you?”

He nodded, “I am. And I think that fear is messing with its hunger. I think that is what’s wrong.”

Coulson’s face fell, “Grant, you do understand how serious this is?” he asked lowly. “If it gets too hungry,”

“Then it will control me, I know.” Ward said, his voice hard and stressed. “I know what happens, Coulson. It happened before and a damn fool died. It was his fault, you know.” he spat. “He’s the one that provoked it. He’s the one that caused me to do so. His death is his own fault.” Anger, from practically nowhere, started to rise in his voice.”

“Ward, watch yourself.” Coulson said sternly, raising his hands.

“I’m not a damn child, Coulson.” Ward hissed, red glowing in his eyes. And Coulson could tell that his claws and fangs were starting to form, a really, really bad sign. “I don’t need anyone taking care of me.”

“And what I see right now tells me otherwise. If you do not calm yourself right now, people will get hurt. People you do care for. Grant,” Coulson’s voice softened, “Please.”

Ward blinked, suddenly realizing what was going on. The red faded from his eyes as it was replaced by fear and regret. “I, uh, didn’t mean to.” He started to shake his head over and over, “Dammit, I’m sorry. Sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Grant,”

Ward fled the room without another word, leaving Coulson in silence.

“Oh, hell. This isn’t going to end well.” Coulson muttered as Skye came into the room with a worried look on her face.

“Hey, AC, what’s the matter with Grant?” she asked.

Coulson shook his head, “Honestly, I don’t know. Skye, you and May are the only ones that know. Please, watch him, make sure he doesn’t lose his anger. Something is going on with him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hell, I honestly don’t know. The only other time I’ve ever seen him like this is the day he actually lost it and killed someone.”

“He told me about that.”

Coulson sighed, “But I don’t know what’s causing it now though. He says that it’s because he’s afraid that you’re going to get hurt. Fear actually does make sense in this case. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to his _other side_ getting hungry. Which makes him act like how he is now. Defensive, irritable, just plain out mean. It makes sense. But he doesn’t need to be like this at all.” he explained.

“That’s why I want you to watch him. I don’t think that he’s really going to listen to me, but he might to you.” Coulson continued, looking straight at Skye. “I don’t want to know what will happen if he gets any worse. God, I hate seeing him like this.”

Skye noticed the genuine fear in Coulson’s voice for Ward. She knew that the two were close, she just didn’t know how close. She remained silent, waiting for Coulson to go on.

Coulson shook his head again, “Skye, you don’t understand how much Grant means to me. He’s like the son I never had. And I know that he sees me as his father, since his actual father was a sorry piece of crap.

I picked him out of juvie when he was just fifteen. He was still young and he was highly scared of everything. Still didn’t understand what he was, and he just had burnt his own house down. The kid didn’t know what genuine compassion looked like.

I decided to be his legal guardian until he was of age. Helped him through the Academy, helped him through SHIELD as his SO. But because of his ‘problem’, I had to always keep an eye on him. SHIELD’s rule.

I’ve kept him safe for so long, I hate to see him get like this. I know he’s hurting, and there’s nothing I can do about it, Skye.” he continued. “Sooner or later, that boy is going to do some real damage. And I don’t know how we can stop it.”

Skye bit her lip, looking out into the lounge, seeing Ward slide into his bunk and shut the door. She looked back to Coulson, “And what happens if he does go over the edge?” she asked. “How do we stop him?”

“Thing is, creatures like him are hard to kill. He’s been through so much physical trauma that should’ve killed your average SHIELD agent time and time again, but he still stands. I don’t know what to do if he does lose it.”

“Sir, I know you care for him, so do you really think that Grant’s up to go on a mission?” she questioned, her voice low. “If anything goes haywire, he might shift and hurt someone. And that someone may be one of us.”

“Unfortunately, I’m thinking of keeping him back.” Coulson answered. “He’s in no mental shape for the mission. I know that we need the muscle, but I don’t want him fighting out there like how he is right now.”

Skye nodded, “Then I’ll stay back as well. He’s my SO, I don’t need to be in the field without him.”

Coulson laughed slightly, “I know you care for him, Skye. I know that you want to make sure nothing happens to him. And I appreciate that you’re accepting of him. I’ve seen plenty of people turn against him once they found out what he was. You’re the first that hasn’t.

And I know Grant pretty well. I see how he acts. I see how he acts around you.” he continued. “I know that he cares for you too. Hell, I think he may be in love with you.”

Skye blushed and decided not to respond to that.

“Grant’s pretty protective of who he decides to grow fond of. Must be the wolf in him. You’ve got someone extremely powerful and loyal protecting you, Skye. If he does stay in his right mind.” Coulson said with a smile. He sighed and shook his head, “Stay back with him on the mission. I’ll try to get him to understand why I want him to stay back. I just don’t want to lose him again.

Last time he got like this, it got _bad_. I want to try to fix it. I just don’t know how.”

Skye sighed and looked back to Ward’s closed bunk, “I don’t know how to either.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in this I decided to have Coulson and Ward have a father-son like relationship, much better than the 'one' Ward and Garrett had. Coulson's real protective of Ward since he views him as his practical son. And he notices things about Ward quicker than anyone else.... Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	5. Like an Instinct With No Other Life to Take

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye figures some things out about Ward, and he confesses what's wrong with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: There are some mentions of suicide attempts in here. Just a head's up.

“What the hell do you mean that I’m supposed to stay here?” Ward growled, leaning in towards Skye’s face a little too closely. Now, she wouldn’t normally mind this, but when there was a thing veil separating man from beast at the moment, she was deathly afraid. She could see red sparking in his eyes. “Why does Coulson want me to stay here?”

Skye took in a sharp breath, carefully studying Ward’s seething features. She had to think carefully to what she told him, because there was no telling to what he would do in retaliation. Another quick glance at his face showed that his ears had grown pointed. His growing anger was starting to make him slowly shift.

“Coulson’s worried about you, Grant.” she began, taking a small step away from him. “He really does think that there’s something wrong with you and thinks that it’s not the best thing to send you on a mission right now.” She studied his features again and saw that his teeth were tightly clenched. Either from pain or anger, but Skye honestly didn’t want to know.

“It’s just this one mission.” she continued. “He wants to make sure that everything’s alright with you before he sends you out into a firefight. Something is wrong with you, Grant. You know it, you just don’t want to tell anyone. Keeping up this ‘macho man’ charade is dangerous. Stop acting like you’re invincible just because you’re different from everyone else. That is what will get you hurt. Keeping secrets isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

Ward remained silent, anger in his now-glowing red eyes. Skye sighed as she knew that it would be hard to get to him. She looked him straight in the eyes and shook her head.

“Grant, you can tell me what the problem is if you don’t want to tell Coulson. There is something going on with you and we need to figure out what it is before it’s too late.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me.” Ward hissed. “Coulson can go shove it up his ass.”

Skye blinked. Ward never acted that way towards Coulson. He was always praising of Coulson and extremely loyal towards him. Like Coulson said, they had a father/son relationship of sorts. For him to ‘feel’ this way towards the man…. This was bad, real bad.

“Grant, Coulson doesn’t want to hurt you. He wants to make sure that you’re alright. There’s something definitely wrong with you and you’re not telling us!” her voice had raised to a shout, she was tired of trying to be reasonable with him. “Coulson thinks you’ll become that monster again!”

Anger flared in Ward’s eyes, “And keep your damn voice down before someone hears!” he snapped. “Maybe there is something wrong with me, I don’t give a shit! Don’t you think that maybe I’m tired of being like this?” His voice had taken a defeated and wearied-sounding tone. “Maybe don’t you think that I’m tired as living as a monster? Maybe sometimes I hope that every time I get sick or hurt, that I might actually just die. That’s one less monster the world has to worry about.”

Skye’s face fell and Ward’s eyes softened, looking at her with what seemed to be yearning. “Skye, I live in constant fear that I will end up killing someone I love.” he said, voice strained. “I’m tired of living in fear that I will do something like that. Sometimes I just want to give up, die.

And trust me, I’ve tried before.” he continued, his voice barely a whisper and pain etched on his face. “But I can’t die that easily the way I am. I heal too fast… I can’t be killed, even by myself.”

All the anger in Ward’s eyes had been replaced by pain and grief. And Skye could swear that there was _fear_ in there as well. Fear for himself and everything around him. Skye now fully realized the kind of life that Ward lived. One of constant fear and pain because of something he didn’t ask for.

“I didn’t ask for any of this.” Ward muttered, his voice barely a whisper. “I’ve always wondered what it was like to be _human_. What is it like to not have a monster underneath you skin?” He sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed, they both had forgotten that they were in his bunk. He drug his hands over his face and then looked back up to Skye, “I guess you can say that’s what’s wrong with me. I’m _afraid._

Like I said once before, fear makes people do horrible things, Skye. Even myself. Fear makes me rage. Maybe it’s some kind of protective instinct, I don’t know. The more scared I get, the angrier _it_ gets. I guess it’s trying to protect me from whatever makes me scared, but in this instance it’s everything. Even myself.”

Skye took a breath and sat down next to Ward on the bed. She took his hand and looked straight into his eyes, “I understand that you’re afraid, Grant. But that’s no reason to take out your anger on those around you. Someone’s going to get hurt.”

“I know that. But I can’t stop it, Skye. When the anger comes out, it just won’t stop. It grows until I’m practically raging. I can’t control it. It’s been like seventeen years since this all first began, and I still don’t have a handle on it.” He laughed sadly and shook his head, “And I don’t think that I ever will.”

Skye’s eyes drifted off to the side as she sought for an answer that wouldn’t upset him. She knew that in a state like this, any little thing could send him over the edge. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand, “I think you can, Grant.” she said softly. “You’ll be perfectly fine.”

He blinked and looked at her, “No, I won’t.” he replied, shaking his head. “Skye, you don’t understand what it’s like.”

“No, I don’t. But I know that you’re strong. You can fight something like this. I know you. You’ll be fine, but you’ve still got to stay behind on this one mission. Just to make sure that everything’s going to be okay with you. Coulson just wants the best for you. And don’t worry, I’m staying behind with you.”

“Why would you do that?” he asked.

“Because, you’re my SO, and it’s not good for me to go on a mission without you.”

Ward shook his head, “No, Skye, go on the mission. Don’t worry about me. Triplett can take care of you for the time being. Hell, I’m not sure if I’m cut out to be your SO anymore…”

Skye swallowed and squeezed his hand again, “No matter what you say, Grant, I’ll stay by you.”

“Again, why would you,” Ward was cut off as he found his lips met with Skye’s. His eyes widened briefly before he fell into line with it. He buried his hand into Skye’s soft hair as the kiss grew deeper, and more passionate at that.

They soon pulled apart and Ward looked at her with a confused look, “What the hell was that?” he asked.

She smirked at him, “What? I can’t do that?”

“Well, it’s just that… I… Well….” He scratched the back of his head and trailed off.

Skye laughed at how flustered he had grown, glad that it had replaced the fear and anger. She got up and went to the bunk’s door, “It’s just what?”

“I, uh, I don’t know.”

She smiled again at him and left the bunk, leaving him sitting there full of confusion.

“Wait! What does this mean?!” he exclaimed, yelling at the closed door. “What the hell is this supposed to mean?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't plan on the kiss going in this chapter, but it did. Makes it a little better for the dark tone of it. And I honestly don't know where this story is going, it just comes chapter by chapter. I really don't know what the 'big twist' will be. I have an idea in mind, but I don't know how well it will be received. Keep the comments and kudos coming please!


	6. All That is Dark is Not Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Ward talk while left behind on the mission.

(The Day of the Mission)

Ward looked longingly at Skye as she walked into the lounge. She just had seen the rest of the team off on the mission that the two were to stay behind on. He smiled as she came up and sat down beside him on the couch.

“You okay?” she asked, placing a hand on Ward's thigh. “I know that you didn't want to stay behind.”

He sighed and nodded slowly, “I'm fine. I'm fine. I just got myself way too worked up. Coulson’s right. I'm not doing too well right now. I do need to watch myself.” He sighed again and looked Skye in the eyes, “Skye, I'm really sorry about how I acted. I really am.”

Skye shook her head, “Grant, I know that you couldn't help it. It's okay, you didn't hurt anyone.”

“But I could have.” he replied, slowly turning his gaze from the young agent. “You never know with me, I could’ve hurt you.” Ward shook his head and started absentmindedly scratching at his jeans with a finger, “I honestly do not know what I am capable of. I’ve never been able to unleash my full potential. Coulson doesn’t want me to do so and I’m too afraid to do so as well. There’s no telling to what would happen if I did show my full strength, and I prefer to keep that hidden.”

“How long do you think that Coulson will want you to stay behind like this?” Skye asked, trying to keep the conversation moving so Ward wouldn’t get too uncomfortable. “Do you think that this is just a onetime thing?”

Ward shrugged, “Hell if I know.” he admitted. “I hope it’s just for today, but if I end up getting worse… I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay on this team. Coulson can’t keep the truth from everyone else for forever. They’re already wondering why I couldn’t go on this mission.

Sooner or later, they’ll find out. And then I’ll have to be shipped-off elsewhere for everyone’s ‘safety’. I imagine they won’t do anything other than run from me. I don’t want that and…” He trailed off and briefly looked away before looking back at Skye, “I don’t want to lose you. Being found out means that I would lose you, that we would be separated. And, and I don’t want that to happen. I really don’t.”

With those words, Skye knew that Ward really did care about her, that there was genuine love in what he said. She knew that he had a hard time admitting things such as these since he was so insecure about himself.

How could someone love a monster like him?

Ward never had been able to trust anyone, not even his own family. His own blood tried to kill him because of what he had become, and anyone who found him out eventually tried so out of complete and utter fear. People do crazy things when they’re afraid, and they’ll even kill what they’re afraid of. And a man that could transform into a massive wolf-beast wasn’t the strangest thing in the world these days.

“Grant, I don’t think Coulson would take you away like that.” Skye began, taking his hand. “He knows that you do actually love it here. That it’s good for you here. Well, he does know that, right?”

Another shrug. “Coulson may care for me, but it’s others before me. He doesn’t want to endanger people with my presence.” Ward began to explain. “He’s even flat-out told me before that if he had to put me down, he would. He just didn’t want it to ever get to just that.”

Skye’s face fell, but she remained silent. What could she say to the man that lived with the constant fear of death every time he slipped up?

Ward laughed sadly and stood up, leaving Skye behind on the couch, “That’s my life, Skye. I try to control it, hope that it doesn’t get the best of me. Because if it does, I’m dead. SHIELD will find a way to take me out and kill me once and for all. Even if that means completely destroying my body. They’ve never dealt with anyone like me before, so that’s probably the only option they have in mind.”

He flexed his hands at his side and Skye watched as his claws slid out. “These don’t make me immortal.” he said, holding his hand out. “I may be hard to kill, but I can be killed. And I fear that it will happen any day now since I’m slowly starting to lose control of it again.” Ward mindlessly looked at his hands as the claws disappeared, “But how am I losing it if I never really had control in the first place. What happened last week was a fluke, I shouldn’t of have been able to shift so easily.

I don’t know whether if I’m finally able to freely control it, or it was just teasing me. The rage still controls me. I still turn into an utter monster when I get pissed off. Monsters like me don’t deserve to live.”

Skye took a sharp breath before standing up to ‘confront’ Ward, “Don’t you dare ever say that to me ever again.”

“What?”

“Grant, you are not a monster and most definitely don’t deserve to die.” she shot back. “You’ve got to stop treating yourself like this. You’ll only become what you think you are. And I don’t want that to happen.”

Ward’s face palled in color and he started to grow ashamed. He looked down to avoid Skye’s gaze.

“Look, I’m gonna flat-out admit it right now. I do love you, I really do.” she continued. She walked over to him and took his hand, causing him to look up. “Monster or not. But I can’t stand to hear you constantly demean yourself for something you cannot help. And besides, what it does isn’t you, even if it is your body. Until you have full and utter control, what it does is not your fault.”

“It’s been seventeen years, Skye. If I was going to have control, I would’ve by now.” Ward argued, trying to ignore what Skye had confessed. “It’s not going to happen.”

“Have you even tried?”

“Well, I…” Ward trailed off and looked away. “No, I haven’t. Last week was one of the only times. I’m too afraid to.” He looked back up, pain in his eyes, “Fear tells me not to.”

“Then don’t listen to fear. You’ve gotta learn how to control it eventually, Grant. It’s a part of you, I don’t think that there’s any way to get rid of it at this point. And don’t you think harnessing it would make you stronger?”

“I don’t want to find out.”

“Stop letting fear drive you away from who you are.” Skye repeated, looking him in the eyes. “Sooner or later, you need to accept who and what you are. Stop running from it.”

“What’s the use if no one likes what I am?”

“Why listen to others?”

“Because they’re the ones that are afraid. The ones that want to kill me just because they cannot understand how I exist.” Ward stressed. “Humans fight what they don’t understand. They don’t try to understand it. If it scares them, they shoot.”

“Look, I’m not afraid. Well, not entirely, but I’m working on that.” Skye continued. “Does that work for you? I’ve seen stranger things than you come from a massive wormhole in the sky controlled by an alien god. You’re not the weirdest thing that this world has to offer.”

Ward blinked, looking around the room before looking back to Skye, “And are you sure?” he asked. “Can you promise me that you won’t become afraid and leave me behind? That you won’t run away?”

“You’re afraid of losing me, aren’t you?”

Ward nodded but remained silent.

“I won’t run away then. Grant, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, haven't felt like writing. But I'm back! And the chapter title is a quote from the game Destiny, I believe it's from a weapon's description. A lot of them are really good. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	7. I'm Under, I'm Under a Falling Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It just goes to show, there's no such thing as a 'quiet' day.

(Two Hours Later)

Both Ward and Skye lounged on the couch in the Bus’ lounge area, Skye nuzzled up against Ward’s side. Ward was a little apprehensive to Skye’s ‘newfound’ behavior towards him, but he actually didn’t mind it. He found it a little strange, that was all. It was strange for someone to be so up close and personal with him.

A smile pulled at his lips as his eyes drifted over to Skye, “You know, this is quite nice.”

“Hmmm?” She looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. “What’s nice?”

“This. It just being the two of us. Just the two of us and the peace and quiet.” Ward replied, his eyes sweeping around the room.

She nudged him with an elbow and she sat up, “See? Stuff like this is good for you every now and then. You don’t have to be all full-steam with missions 24/7.” she began. “You’ve gotta relax. And besides, it probably wasn’t good for you to be going on that mission. I know that it wasn’t right for Coulson to suddenly exclude you like that, but it was in good faith.”

Ward sighed and looked up to the ceiling of the Bus, “Yeah, I know. I just get myself way too worked-up over things like that.” He twirled his finger in a circular motion in the air, “My rage getting the best of me and shit like that.” His eyes rested back on Skye, “Sorry you had to see any of that.”

“There’s no need to apologize, Grant.” Skye replied, giving him a small smile. “You’re not at fault. And besides, no one got hurt, right?”

“Yeah, but someone could of.” Ward muttered. “Like I’ve said a hundred times, there’s no telling to what could happen with me. I don’t know who I’ll end up killing. Accident or not.”

“Not?”

“Skye, I’m a SHIELD agent. I’ve killed people for my job. Targets. Bad guys. The ones that affect me are the innocents that the wolf has killed. That maybe only has been one person as of now, but I know it’ll eventually go up. It’s only a matter of time before it happens.” Ward sighed and shook his head, “But I don’t wanna think about that right now.” He looked to Skye, “It’s supposed to be peace and quiet, right?”

Skye poked him in the chest, “Uh huh, it is, Fido.” she replied with a smirk. “No self-deprecating comments or the talk about death. Just shut your trap about all of that just for today and enjoy our time together.”

Ward bit his lip and looked to the side, mumbling something under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. I said nothing.”

“I thought so.”

Rolling his eyes, Ward looked back up to the ceiling and let his mind wander. It went back to the other day, when Skye kissed him out of nowhere. And ever since then, she had been practically glued to his side. If that hadn’t been her conformation of love, he didn’t know what it was.

“So, he began. “What did the other day mean?”

Skye looked at him with a frown, “What about the other day?”

“The kiss.”

“Oh, yeah, that.”

“What did that mean?” Ward asked, cocking his head. “What was that all about?”

A smirk grew on Skye’s face. She loved it when Ward tilted his head like that, it gave him the appearance of a confused dog. Which, he pretty much was. “Well, you know. It was just the situation and I thought…”

“You thought what?”

“I dunno. I just went ahead for it. I know that there’s something between us, Grant. Others notice it. And… Hell, I guess it was just a matter of time.”

Ward smiled and blushed. He looked off to the side before returning his soft gaze to her, “Yeah, I guess it was. I’ll… Hell, I’ll admit it… I-I do like you.” He was blushing and an overexcited gleam was shining in his eyes. Again, making him look like a dog.

Skye snorted slightly, “I love you too, Fido.”

Ward blushed even heavier before diverting his gaze away from Skye. Silence hung over them, Skye not saying anything as she realized what she had just said. Ward looked back to her, that light still in his eyes. She liked to imagine him with a tail just normally, without all the teeth and fur. It would probably be going at a hundred miles an hour at the moment. She suppressed a laugh.

“So, does this mean that we’re?” he asked, unsure of how to continue the question. “Are we?”

“I’m pretty sure whatever you think this is, that’s exactly what it is.” Skye replied. “You’re very rusty with picking things up.”

“I don’t like being around people a lot.”

“I know that. But you’re like a dammed Labrador around me. I see it. I think you’re part-Labrador instead of half-wolf.”

Ward furrowed his eyebrows, “I don’t act that way.”

“That’s because you don’t see yourself, Grant. I see it. You’re a dammed were-labrador. Forget the wolf.” Skye argued.

Skye swore that Ward let out a soft growl towards her as he looked away in embarrassment. She laughed and shook her head, “But I say all of this in love.”

Ward grumbled and leaned his head back, without saying anything else. Skye sighed and buried herself into Ward’s side once more. The two remained quiet for what seemed a long time.

Skye drifted off asleep to the rhythmic movements of Ward’s powerful lungs and the soft heat radiating off of his body. Ward smiled and didn’t bother to move her, as it didn’t bother him at all.

About an hour passed before a sharp growl jerked Skye awake. She quickly sat up, seeing Ward standing in front of the cough, a snarl on his face. She could see that his claws and fangs had formed.

“Grant, what the hell is going on?” she asked.

Ward looked back at her, “Someone’s here.” he growled, red eyes glaring at her.

“Is it the others?”

He shook his head. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air, “They’re not due back for another few hours. And it sure as hell doesn’t smell like them.” He sniffed the air again, “Six men, all most likely heavily armed to the teeth. Don’t know who they are though.”

Skye stood to her feet, “What the hell are they doing here then?”

“Probably some of the guys the others went after. Found the Bus and decided to go after it. But considering its six men, it has to be something else.” Fear flared in his wolfish eyes, “Maybe they’re after me.”

“How the hell would they find that out anyways?”

“I’m in the Index. Wouldn’t be that hard to look.”

A loud crash sounded outside in the cargo bay, causing Skye to jump and Ward to spin around and growl. Someone had broken into the Bus.

“Grant?”

“Go hide and find a way to contact Coulson. Tell him what’s going on.” Ward ordered. “I’ll fight them.”

“It’s six men.”

“Yeah, but what am I?”

“Please don’t tell me that you’re planning to,”

“Yup.” Ward cut in. “What else? The weapons are too far away. Sorry for this, Skye.”

He took a step towards the opposite side of the room, and Skye watched the violent change from man to beast as the wolf took Ward’s place. Ward looked at Skye and gave her a soft whine, her signal for her to run and hide.

Skye took one last look at the beast before running off into the cockpit to hide and contact the others. Ward turned back to the door, growling just as it bust in to reveal the six armed men.

And with a roar, he charged towards them, claws slashing the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, but I've been sick with the croup for the past week and haven't felt like writing. But I'm back and should be up to writing now. And with the story, I think I'm gonna make the 'twist' heavily involve Skye. And it'll make the whole Inhuman thing not canon in this AU. So I hope it works. Can you guess what it is? Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	8. Carnivore, Carnivore!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go way out of hand and get thrown to the wolves.... Literally.

Skye scrambled for the cockpit and took shelter in a nook near the seats. She fumbled for her phone as a sharp howl split the air followed by gunfire. Ward had already engaged the assailants. And Skye was deathly afraid of what would follow. She’d never seen Ward in high combat in that form before. The last time was just him getting her out. This was a whole other level.

Her breathing grew heavy as she shakily dialed the numbers for Coulson’s own phone and held the phone to her ear. Another howl masked the dial tone in her ear, one of which sounded pained. “Come on, come on.” she pleaded with the phone. “Pick up, pick up.”

After a few heart pounding seconds, the phone picked up,

_“Skye? Is there something going on?”_

“Coulson! Someone’s attacking us! I don’t know who, but Grant thinks they’re after him.”

_“What? Oh, God. Skye, find a safe place to find and stay there, we’re coming now. Where’s Ward?”_

Skye took the phone from her ear and turned it towards the cockpit door just as a howl split the air again. “Yeah, that.”

_“Shit, he shifted?”_

“He willingly did it though to fight them.”

_“Skye, that’s not what I mean. If he gets too worked-up over the assailants, he may lose control entirely. If you can, make sure that that doesn’t happen. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”_

The line disconnected.

“Shit.” Skye breathed, throwing the phone aside. She looked to the cockpit door, just now noticing how quiet it had become. Either Ward had taken care of all the assailants or something far worse had happened. She took a sharp, yet shaky, breath before standing to her feet and slowly approaching the door.

She hoped that the assailants were gone. But Ward would’ve come for her by now if they were. Something else was going on, and it all just felt wrong. An eerie feeling came over her as she reached for the doorhandle and slowly turned it.

The door opened inch by inch and Skye stuck her head out, but she couldn’t see anything. Hesitantly, she made her way out into the galley, freezing as she saw four bodies littering the floor, all torn and bloodied. Blood stained the carpet and giant claw gauges marked the walls around her. But where was Ward?

A heavy clank from the cargo bay alerted her and she turned her attention to the door that led to it. She cautiously stepped over the bodies and made her way to the door, which had been ripped from its hinges and thrown elsewhere. Metal clanked as her foot sat down onto the catwalk and a massive black blob below halted her progression.

Ward. He was bent over something and his back heaved with heavy movements as though he was hard at work at something. Skye stepped forward again, “Grant?” she asked, cringing as metal clanked again.

Suddenly, Ward’s form halted and stiffened up. A low, deep growl reverberated within the open room, Skye just noticed now that the ramp was open. The assailants probably did it.

Ward rose to his full stature, which was over seven feet, and turned his nose to the air. Skye could hear heavy grunts as Ward smelt the air for the source of the sudden sound, which had been her. Another growl sounded as he turned towards the catwalk, thuds sounding from underneath his heavy, pawed feet.

Red eyes glared at Skye as she stumbled back at the sight of Ward’s wolfish face. His lips were contorted into a snarl, blood dripping from his fangs. A mauled and mangled body of one of the soldiers laid just beyond him. Skye almost threw up. Had he been _eating_ the soldier?

Ward had said it had happened before in one of his berserk states. And it was highly possible that the attack had driven Ward wild. A feral light shone in his eyes as he growled, taking a step forward and glaring at Skye.

In his eyes right now, Skye wasn’t someone he cared about. She wasn’t his girlfriend or whatnot. Hell, he didn’t even know who she was other than another threat. Just more food for the hungry wolf.

Now, the wolf’s hunger had grown to a dangerous level while Ward had it suppressed. And since it was unleashed, there would be no stopping it until the wolf had been fully satisfied.

Skye stepped back as Ward stalked forward. “Grant!” she called. “It’s me! It’s Skye!”

A growl was her only response as for Ward didn’t register her words. His red, gleaming eyes stayed locked onto her as his tongue wiped over his bloody lips, wiping away gore.

“Grant?” she asked, backing up against the wall. She had totally forgotten that the door was open and she could make a run for it. But could she really challenge this beast? This thing was probably twenty times faster than her and could catch up to her in no time.

Ward growled again and his eyes surveyed a way to get up onto the catwalk. It was highly probable that he could just jump up there, but there wasn’t much room to do so. He turned and stalked towards the stairs, which wouldn’t hold him. He half-growled, half-barked and started smashing at the stairs with his stone-hard claws, whacking away at the metal.

Skye’s knees started to shake as she fully realized that Ward was nowhere in the beast at the moment. The beast had fully taken over, and it wanted her for dinner.

She closed her eyes as the beast continued to whack away at the stairs, taking his anger out on the metal. Or he was trying to trap her. _“Oh God, please don’t let this be the end.”_ she thought. _“It can’t end like this.”_

The whacking continued for a while before a high-pitched sounded echoed out and the metallic noise abruptly stopped, followed by a massive thud. Skye gulped and slowly opened her eyes to see Coulson and the others standing at the foot of the cargo bay. Ward, now human and very naked, laid unconscious on the cold, metallic ground.

“What the _fuck_ was that?!” Triplett exclaimed. He pointed towards Ward, “Someone tell me what the hell that was!”

Both Fitz and Simmons looked as though they had seen ghosts.

“That’s… That’s not humanly possible.” Simmons muttered. “It’s just not.”

“Bloody hell.” Fitz murmured, unable to move.

“Uh, Coulson, what the hell is going on?” Triplett asked, profound confusion on his face. “What the hell was that?”

Coulson gulped and looked back, “Long story short? Ward’s a werewolf no matter how ridiculous that sounds. Looks like someone wanted him, attacked, and got his full ferocity.” Coulson looked up to Skye, who was slowly making her way down the stairs, “You okay?”

“I-I guess. It’s… That wasn’t him. I think he, no, _it_ wanted me.” She pointed to the mangled corpse, “It ate that guy.”

“Yeah, it, not Ward.” Coulson said. “There was no way that Ward was in any of that. I’ve known him for too long to think that he did that. Looks like it took over this time. Trip, Skye, help me get him to his bunk. Shit, looks like I’ve got a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”

“Like hell you do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, this story is getting really dark. Didn't mean it to. This is what happens when you're at a roadblock with your two other stories, your already-dark AU gets even darker and bloodier. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	9. I Find You Lost Inside the Darkest Part of Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team reacts to what happened and Skye comforts Ward as he wakes up to find out what happened.

(An Hour Later)

Skye sighed in exasperation, leaning her head back against the wall of Ward’s bunk as she sat on the floor by his bed. Coulson had worked quickly to clean everything up, including the dead bodies and the blood that stained the galley floor. Now Ward laid asleep in his bed, Skye keeping watch over him.

She could hear the others faintly from the Holocom room, all yelling about what had just transpired.

“And would anyone mind telling me just what the hell that was?” she heard Triplett asked impatiently.” Because I just saw a massive wolf monster shift back into the guise of our teammate.”

“It’s just like I said earlier. Ward’s a werewolf.” Coulson responded.

“And why didn’t we know this?” Simmons asked, both anger and fear in her voice. “Why?”

“It was more to keep him safe than anything else. People that end up knowing tend to either hate him out of fear or try to do something to him to get rid of ‘it’.” Coulson began to explain. “If people don’t know, it’s like it doesn’t exist because Ward doesn’t, well, transform all that often.”

“How long has he been like this?” Fitz asked in a low voice. “Like this, uh, _monster_?”

“Now, monster isn’t a term I use lightly with him. He’s not a monster. Not at all. Grant… He’s been this way since he was fifteen. Some kind of curse that runs in the Ward bloodline. Hasn’t affected anyone in over a century. First shifted out of anger at his family because they were literal shit. Knew he was different, and acted horrible towards him.

They first tried to kill him when it started and eventually sent him off to military school hoping that maybe the military would find him out. In an enraged state, Grant ran back home, only to burn down his home. He was sent to juvie and that’s where I found him.”

“You knew about him?” Triplett asked.

Coulson shook his head, “No, not the wolf part. SHIELD had learned of a young boy with amazing fighting capabilities and amazing hand-eye coordination, wanted to recruit him. Found out about the _other_ abilities later.

I took him in and raised him as my own son for three years until he got into the Academy where he went through a special program. Made sure he got through that and when he finally got into SHIELD, I took him under my wing as his SO. You all know that part.”

Coulson swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat before he continued. “That other side to him is an entirely different entity sometimes. Grant worked hard to control it to where he’s not a threat and to where he could rely on it when he needed to.” he added. “But if it gets wild, it’s not him anymore. It takes over and temporarily erases Ward from existence. We’ve worked hard to make sure that that doesn’t happen. But sometimes it does and he goes wild. But Grant is not a monster.”

“It would’ve been good to know this beforehand.” Simmons inquired. “Hiding something like this is only going to do more harm than good.”

“In retrospect, you are completely correct. You are his teammates, you should’ve known. But he’s hesitant to let others know and we can’t have the information that there’s such a creature as him in SHIELD’s ranks in a lot of hands.” Coulson responded.

“But Skye knew, didn’t she?”

Coulson nodded, “For about two weeks, since the mission where they got trapped in the Centipede base.” he stated.

“Hell and they’re dating now. Skye surprises me sometimes.” Triplett commented.

“Skye overlooks a lot of stuff, that’s why she’s good for Grant. But as for all of this, try not to act too differently towards him.” Coulson began. “It’s okay to be, well, afraid of him for a while. It’s human nature. But if you start treating him in a negative way, he’ll… I don’t know what will happen.

He’s not quite right in the head. There’s several issues from his childhood and everything from the past several years weighing on him. I know the biggest is depression. This will probably make that worse. He’ll start blaming himself and things will only go down from here. Try not to act too different towards him, but don’t overlook what you saw.”

“Okay, the guy that has been on this plane with us for the past several months is actually half-wolf. That’s great.” Triplett said. “No wonder he likes dogs.”

“You’re taking this unusually well.”

“It’s Ward, I know he wouldn’t hurt us intentionally. I’m not afraid of him, more like that thing. If I don’t see it, I’m not afraid.” Triplett explained. “Ward would die before laying a finger on any of us.”

Coulson nodded, “Yeah, I know. That’s why once he finds out that we know, it’s only going to get worse. He’ll blame himself for everything.”

 

Meanwhile, Skye sighed as the team’s words drifted in. Coulson was right, they didn’t need to treat Ward any differently than they had before. God, she forgot how much she loved Trip. The guy was so laid-back that even finding out that a teammate was a half-man, half-wolf monster really didn’t bother him. Everyone needed to be like that.

She continued to sit there with her head rested against the wall until a rustle sounded in the bed and Ward suddenly shot up with a loud gasp. Skye jumped to her feet as Ward looked at her with total confusion on his face.

“Skye? What the hell is going on?” he asked. “Where am I?”

“Your bunk.”

“Why am I here?”

“What do you remember?”

“Uh, there were soldier attacking, I shifted to fight them, and…” His face went blank, “I, I don’t know. I don’t remember.” He gulped and looked Skye straight in the eyes, “What happened?”

Skye bit her lip, “You’re wanting the hard truth, aren’t you?”

“Better than keeping it from me. What the hell did I do?”

“The soldier’s attack caused you to go practically feral and _it_ took over. The six men were killed and I found you… You were… Shit, you were eating one of them. Then you turned on me like I was your next prey.” Skye explained carefully.

Skye swore that Ward’s face went a little green as fear took a hold of him. “Did I hurt you?” he asked quietly, voice barely a whisper.

She said on the edge of the bed and took his hand, “No, you didn’t. Shaken up, yes. But you didn’t hurt me. You were stopped before anything could happen.”

“By who?”

“Coulson and the others.”

Ward’s face fell, “T-The others know?” he stammered.

“It was bound to happen.”

He looked down in grief and in shame, “They hate me now, don’t they?”

“No, I don’t think so. Probably a little afraid, but that’s natural. They just wanted to know why this was kept from them. They know that you won’t hurt them.” She squeezed his hand, “They’re not going to hate you or hurt you, babe. It’s the team. They’re not going to do anything.”

Regret shone in Ward’s eyes as he looked back up to Skye, “Do you hate me?” he asked softly. “I-I almost killed you. I could’ve ripped you apart, piece by piece. Yet you’re still here.”

“Because that wasn’t you, Grant. You weren’t in any of that. The wolf had complete control and you weren’t there. You’re not to blame, so don’t blame yourself. Do not do this to yourself. That was not you.”

A muscle twitched in Ward’s face and he sought to change the subject, “How did I get in here anyways?”

“I helped Coulson and Trip bring up your unconscious and very naked body.” A smile pulled at Skye’s lips.

Ward’s face reddened, “ _Naked?_ Then how the hell do I have clothes on?” he asked, embarrassment replacing the fear.

“I’m not afraid to be around your naked body, you know. It’s actually very nice.”

Ward only blushed even harder.

“Get some sleep. You need it.” Skye stood to her feet. “We can talk more about this later on.”

“Can you stay?” he asked, looking up at her. “I… I don’t want to be alone just yet.”

Skye took a breath and nodded, a small smile on her face, “I guess I could use a nap. It’s been a hell of a day.”

A smile formed on Ward’s face as Skye sat back down on the bed and laid down beside him, snuggling up against his side. A warm feeling settled into his chest as he turned onto his side and draped his arm protectively against Skye.

“I love you.” he whispered into her ear.

“I know.” she replied.

“Thank you for doing this for me. It… It means a lot.”

“Grant, just shut up and go to sleep. We’ll talk about this later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it ends on a fluffy note! And it's good that the team didn't freak out over Ward's 'problem'. It's just a matter of how Ward and the team's next interaction goes. (And I did make Skye pull a Han in there.) Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	10. Become the Monster You Have Fed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And things really start to go south.

(A Few Hours Later)

Ward stood up and stretched his tightened muscles as Skye stood between him and the door. His eyes darted between her and the closed bunk door, his chest tightening in fear as he heard muffled voices on the other side. “They’re out there, aren’t they?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“You can’t avoid them forever, Grant. They’re your teammates. There’s no running away from them.” Skye replied softly, taking his hand. “And besides, they really didn’t see all that much. I’m the one that saw the worst part.”

“But they _know_ now, Skye. And the knowledge of my, well, problem is what drives people away. Probably even them.”

Skye gave Ward’s hand a soft squeeze, “You’ll be fine. They’re not going to run away. It’s Triplett and Fitzsimmons for God’s sakes. They’re not going to turn their backs on you.”

“And how can you be so sure?”

“Just trust me on this, you’ll be fine.”

Ward nodded and took a sharp breath as Skye slid open the bunk door and walked out into the galley. He could see Fitzsimmons and Triplett seemingly arguing over some fruitless thing. It was like there wasn’t a care in the world to them at the moment. Meanwhile, Ward stood in a storm of torment, assaulted by his very own thoughts.

He gulped before stepping out into the other room. Approaching the others, he stopped a few feet away from them, “Hey.” he said quietly.

All three looked at him with strange looks on their faces. Ward couldn’t tell whether it was fear or relief. Or maybe even both. They were relieved that he was okay, but at the same time scared of their newfound knowledge of what he really was.

“Oh, thank God.” Simmons breathed. “You’re okay.”

Ward shrugged, sitting down in one of the chairs away from them, “I’m not sure if okay is the right word at the moment, but you can say that.” he replied briskly. He looked down and away from them, not wanting to speak.

“Look, dude, we’re not going to hurt you or anything.” Triplett spoke up. “If that’s what you’re really worried about here. Coulson told us what’s going on with you.”

Ward blinked and slowly looked up at them, “He did?” he asked quietly.

“Well, we kind of needed an explanation why a massive wolf suddenly transformed back into you.”

Ward shied back, trying to make himself seem small in the seat he was in, “Everything that Coulson said is more than likely true. I don’t know what all he told you, but I trust his word.”

  “How is something like this possible?” Simmons asked, seeming like she wanted to know everything about Ward. Of course she did. She probably wanted to know what made him tick and just how he transformed. That was a SHIELD biochemist for you.

Another shrug, “Coulson probably told you all that I know. Some kind of ancient curse that runs in the Ward family. Hasn’t affected anyone in over a hundred years other than me, maybe that’s why it’s so much worse with me.” he explained, his voice low and wearied. “I don’t know exactly how it all happens, other than the curse made me half-wolf. That’s all I know.

I guess you kind of can say it’s like the Hulk. Something’s released in my body that causes everything to shift into a wolf-like form. I… I really don’t know the details. All I really know is that I’m a monster. And there’s no changing that at all.”

Skye crossed her arms, “Grant,” she warned. “Don’t do this.”

Ward’s face hardened and a muscle twitched in it, “You saw me, Skye.” he stated harshly, a slight growl in his voice. He was getting tired of Skye telling him the opposite of what he said. “You saw that _thing_ I was. I was that thing that almost killed you!” He stood to his feet, oblivious to anyone else around him.

Triplett and Fitzsimmons all exchanged worried looks. They never had seen Ward like this.

“Stop trying to make me feel better, it’s not going to work. I know what I am. You can’t change that. Skye, what are you going to do the next time I can’t stop myself?” Ward asked, spreading his hands out in front of him. “Are you going to not call me a monster then? There may not be a next time. Because someone may be fucking _dead_ the next time!”

“Grant, what the hell are you doing?” Skye asked, giving him a weird look.

Ward snarled and took a step towards Skye, “I want you to stop talking.” he hissed. “That’s all you ever do! Can’t you just shut up for just a minute?”

“Ward, calm down.” Fitz said cautiously. “Don’t do this.”

Ward spun and growled at Fitz, causing the young engineer to jump back. The half-wolf’s eyes were a blazing, seething red. “And you shut the fuck up too.” he hissed. “All of you.”

Skye gulped and step forward, grabbing a hold of Ward’s arm, “Grant, listen to me. Do you hear yourself? You’re doing the very same thing that you wanted to avoid. We’re not going to hurt you.”

He only growled at her, but did not move.

“Grant, look me in the eyes. This isn’t you. You don’t want to hurt us, I know you. Calm down and take a breath. You’re getting way too worked up again.” Skye said slowly and calmly. “Do not let yourself lose control again. It’s been too soon. Please.”

Ward’s face twitched and the red faded from his eyes. He pulled his arm from Skye’s grip, “I…” he trailed off and shook his head. “I can’t do this anymore.” he said quietly. “I just can’t. I should…” He started to walk away from everyone, “I think I should just leave. No one’s going to miss me anyway. No,” he turned and started towards his bunk again. “I’m better off dead.”

The four agents watched as Ward stalked into his bunk and slammed the door shut. Skye turned towards Triplett and Fitzsimmons, all of which had extremely worried looks on their faces.

“He didn’t mean any of that, I promise.” Skye insisted.

“I know he didn’t.” Triplett responded, casting a glance towards the closed bunk. “That’s far from normal for him. Skye, what’s going on with him?”

“I… That’s the thing, I don’t know. Neither does Coulson. Grant claims it’s because he’s scared and his _other side_ is taking advantage of that. I don’t know.” Skye tried to explain. “You all know he wouldn’t hurt any of us intentionally.”

“That’s why I’m worried. That isn’t him. Something is wrong. Now, I know we’re just really learning about all of this and we haven’t seen the full extent of his problem yet, but this isn’t right. He would never snap at you like that, especially since you two are now together or whatnot.”

“Is it even a good idea to keep him here?” Fitz asked quietly. “If something’s wrong,”

“There’s no one that can help with something like this.” Skye interrupted. “We’re on our own here.” She looked to Ward’s closed door, “We need to do something before he runs off or he manages to kill himself.”

“Or those soldiers come back.” Simmons stated. “We don’t even know who those guys were. If they wanted Ward, they’re not going to stop coming after him. And what if someone gets hurt because of that, Skye?”

Skye sighed and bit her lip, “We’ll deal with that when the time comes. I don’t know about someone getting hurt though.”

Simmons took a breath, “Skye, and I’m not so sure that you should be around him like how he is now.”

“What do you mean?”

“What if he hurts you? What if he does something that he regrets? What if the monster gets to you?”

“I,” Skye began.

“Skye, this monster may very well take you over if you’re not careful. It’s just a matter of how that will happen. There’s no buts about it. Ward’s not Ward anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the story takes a much darker turn as Ward's falling to his darkness. And what about the soldiers? Will they come back? And what about Simmons' ominous questions at the very end? Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	11. I Bear My Fangs to Draw the Blood, but It's Not Enough.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things grow between Skye and Ward. But things prove too good to be true.

Two days passed before Skye talked to Ward again. He had sealed himself shut inside of his bunk and wouldn’t come out, and Skye had decided to give him some space before bothering him again. There wasn’t anything to do anyways. They had been stuck in their current location for the past few days for repairs and investigation into the attack. And they probably would be stuck here for another day or so.

Skye eventually worked up the nerve, well, courage to face Ward again after his little snap from the other day. She took a breath as she approached his sealed bunk, pausing momentarily before knocking on the hard surface.

Nothing was said for a few seconds and Skye was worried that there was something wrong. But luckily a response came. “Who is it?” came Ward’s guilt-ridden reply.

“It’s Skye, Grant.” she replied.

More silence before another response. “You can come in. If you want to.”

She heard the lock unlatch and she slowly slid the door open to see Ward sitting absentmindedly in the middle of his unmade bed. He didn’t look up as she went inside his bunk, sliding the door shut as she sat on the edge of his bed.

“How are you feeling?” she asked softly, taking his calloused hand.

Ward shrugged, his glassed-over eyes drifting to her, “I’ve been worse. But I don’t feel so great.”

“Maybe you should have Simmons look at you. Maybe you’re sick.”

“No, it’s not that, Skye.” Ward murmured in response. “I’m not sick. This… This is all guilt.”

“Grant, you know you’re not to blame for the way you acted. You were already agitated and the situation wasn’t the best for you. Don’t blame yourself for any of this.”

“Skye, maybe I should. It’s my rage. It was my words that came of my mouth. None of that was the wolf or anything. It was me. I cussed you all out. Most of all, I verbally attacked you. I know that I didn’t mean any of it, it’s just hard to process that I said all of that.” Pain filled his whiskey-brown eyes. “All of that was me. That was me releasing all of the anger I felt. Anger towards those attackers. Anger towards Coulson telling everyone. Anger towards myself. I’ve got to learn how to control it before it does become the wolf and one of you ends up getting hurt or killed in return.”

He took Skye’s hand and began to slowly trace circles onto the skin of her palm. “There’s no excuse for how I acted. I want to apologize. I now I should’ve done it before now, but I wanted more time to myself. Time to think.”

Skye drew her legs up onto the bed and scooted closer to Ward’s side, “You know that I forgive you, right?” she asked, looking him in the eyes. “I know that you didn’t mean any of that.”

“I don’t even know where any of that came from. But that was all me, not the wolf.” he said softly, draping his arm around her in a protective fashion. “I just want to know one thing, and I want you to be sincere with me when you respond. Okay?”

“Hmm?” Skye answered, closing her eyes.

“Are you afraid of me?”

Skye opened her eyes and looked up to Ward, seeing the pleading look in his eyes. He wanted the truth. He wanted to know how she really felt. She took a breath and nodded slowly, “Grant, I want you to know that I still love you. I do. But I will be honest with you. There is a part of me that is afraid. But it’s not of you. It’s afraid of the wolf. You and the wolf are two totally different beings. You do know that, right?”

Ward shrugged, threading his fingers through her long, brown hair, “I guess so.”

“I don’t fear you, Grant. Maybe just a bit, but that’s just human nature.”

He nodded slowly, “I guess you’re right. Fear is just human nature. As long as you don’t end up turning against me.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Skye replied with a genuine smile.

Ward smiled and leaned his head down to kiss her, his hand running down the length of her back as he did so. He pulled away from her, a bright light in his eyes, “Thank you.” he stated simply.

“There’s no need to thank me for anything, Grant. We’re dating, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. I tend to forget that.”

“How the hell do you forget who your girlfriend is?”

Ward shrugged, “You know it’s been pretty busy lately.”

“I’m gonna let this go with just a warning.”

“What’s more than a warning?”

“Do you really want to find out?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Skye scoffed and buried her head into Ward’s chest, “Good.”

“Hey, what time is it anyways?” Ward asked, cocking his head slightly even though Skye couldn’t see him do so.

“Like one in the afternoon.”

“That’s all? Thought it was later.”

“Does it matter? We’re not doing anything today. Not until the Bus is cleared to fly again.”

Ward smiled and drew Skye closer, “Then we can find something to do.” he said, his smile growing even bigger.

Skye looked up, an eyebrow raised, “Am I going to like where this is going?” she asked.

“Probably.”

* * *

 

(Two More Days Later)

The Bus was still trapped at its current location since the damage done to it by the assailants was far worse than originally thought. It was going to take another day for it to be fully repaired.

Skye stretched her legs out, her head lying in Ward’s lap as they sat on the couch in the galley. Ward had worked up enough courage to come out of his bunk. The team was fairly friendly with him and tried their best to avoid any conversation that involved his ‘problem’. He greatly appreciated that though and he knew that Triplett and Fitzsimmons were worth keeping close.

Reaching up to poke Ward’s stubble-covered chin, Skye broke the silence that they had been sitting in, “Hey, I think we should go for a walk.”

“If this is another dammed dog joke,” Ward began, looking down at her with a scowl.

“No, it’s not. I wasn’t even thinking of that right now.” Skye replied, sitting up and nuzzling into Ward’s side. “But I can take you for a walk. We probably have something that can be used as a leash around here.”

“Skye, please.”

“Fine. I was just thinking we could go walk around in the woods since there’s nothing else to do here. Just the two of us, I know that you’ll like that.”

“Okay, that does sound nice, but I don’t think that Coulson’s going to be too fond of that idea at the moment.” Ward replied. “Even if there’s not any threats at the moment.”

“Oh, come one you party pooper. We don’t have to ask Coulson permission for every single thing we do. It’ll just be a short walk. No more than an hour. Besides, I think you need the fresh air. You’ve been cooped-up in here for a little too long.”

Ward scoffed, “What, are you in charge of my health right now?”

“I just want the best for you.”

“Yeah, and I want the best for you too. That’s why I’m saying a walk’s not the best thing right now.”

“We can go listen to Fitzsimmons bicker in the lab.”

“I’d rather not.”

Skye stood to her feet and looked down at Ward, “See? A walk will be perfectly fine. We won’t be gone all that long, babe. Trust me.” She pulled at his hand.

Ward sighed and nodded, rising to his feet as well. “Fine. As long as we’re not gone long. And we at least tell Trip.”

“Fine. We’ll tell Trip.”

* * *

 

 (A Little Later)  
 

Skye pulled Ward along as they walked into the forest, the sounds of chirping birds filling the air. “See? Isn’t this nice?” she asked.

“Yeah, if I didn’t smell deer shit.” Ward retorted, sniffing the air. “It’s quite nasty. And there’s what I think to be a rotting carcass. Rabbit. A wolf probably got to it.”

“Easy there, bloodhound. I don’t want to hear about every single thing you can smell.” Skye said.

“Sorry. I can’t turn off my nose.” Ward retorted once more. Well, he wished he could turn off his nose. The scents of the forest were a little too much for him. It didn’t help that the animal smells agitated the wolf side of him and made him hungry. He wanted to be out of this forest before he started craving raw deer or something like that.

“Does someone like you like being outdoors?” Skye asked, stopping in a small clearing. “You’re half-wolf after all.”

Ward shrugged, “Too many smells and sounds. I don’t like it. I’m not much of an outdoors person. Again, I’m probably more man than wolf.”

“What would happen if a pack of wolves found you?”

“Like hell I know. And I don’t want to find that out. Maybe they’ll just see me as another wolf or they’ll know that something’s up with me. I don’t know.” Ward started to walk ahead. “Let’s just hurry up so we can get out of here. I’m tired of smelling deer shit.”

Skye laughed at him but didn’t say anything to him as they continued along.

They walked for another twenty minutes or so before Ward stopped abruptly, a low growl coming from his chest. Skye frowned as she saw him sniff the air.

“Grant, babe, what’s going on?” she asked, fear creeping its way into her chest.

“Someone’s coming and I’m sure as hell that it’s not any of the team.” he growled. He sniffed the air again and the color drained from his face, “The men from the other day. It’s them.”

“What?!” Skye exclaimed. “What the hell do you mean?!”

“They’re back. I told you we shouldn’t of have left the Bus. They’re back for me.” Another growl echoed out from his chest, “Skye, I want you to hide somewhere.”

“Grant, please don’t tell me that you’re going to fight. You’re in no shape to fight.”

“If I don’t fight, we die. Hide, please.”

Skye gulped and nodded. She quickly kissed Ward on the cheek, “I love you.” she said briskly.

“I love you too.”

She went to spin around to run and hide, but that’s when she saw them. The men. And they had grown in number. They completely surrounded them in a massive circle and there was at least twenty men. There was nowhere to run now.

“Grant?”

Ward looked back at her, the red glowing in his eyes. He shook his head at her as he drew her close to protect her, the soldiers coming in close.

“We’re fucked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the next chapter is where the big bang happens, which changes everything. And like I said before it involves Skye. (But she's not dying or anything like that.) But I will say that it does make her understand Ward a hell of a lot more and it will cause Ward to swear on his life to protect her. Any clues to what it is? Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	12. The Nightmare Bleeds, The Poison Seeps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything goes to hell, and cannot return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's just say I almost cried writing this chapter. You've been warned.

Skye dropped to the ground, just as bullets sprayed out in the air. She couldn’t quite hide from the actions since the action happened to be all around them. All she could do was hope that Ward could protect the both of them from the men. But the men were so much larger in number this time. They were prepared to take Ward down.

Twenty men, she had counted them all. Twenty men supposedly sent to capture Ward for God knows what. She didn’t even want to think of that. Only one thing was on her mind: survival.

A sharp bark-like sound ripped through the air and Skye strained to see Ward slashing at one guard, only half-shifted. She knew that he didn’t want to shift and she could see that he was refraining from doing so. But it was only hindering him in the fight.

Bullets still flew overhead and Skye knew that the men were only after Ward. If she stayed out of the fight, then she wouldn’t get hurt. But she didn’t want to leave Ward fighting all by himself. He may have been practically superhuman, but he couldn’t take down twenty soldiers without getting hurt. He wasn’t invincible. Hell, no one was. 

She watched as Ward’s steel-like claws sliced the face of one of the soldiers, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. Ward’s red eyes drifted to the gun that had fallen and he kicked it over to Skye. He looked up at her and only blinked, she acknowledged that he wanted her to fight in this.

He spun around and slashed at another soldier. Skye looked down at the gun, which seemed to be an assault rifle. She really didn’t know. Ward wanted her to use this? She was still the rookie that said ‘bang’ when pulling the trigger, how the hell could she use something of this caliber?

She took another look at Ward, freezing as she saw blood staining his gray t-shirt. She didn’t want to know whether it was his or a soldier’s. With a gulp, Skye picked up the rifle. It felt awkward and heavy in her small hands. Could she really use this against one of the soldiers? Could she really kill someone to save Ward? He had killed for her, but he was something else. He wasn’t human, so did it really matter?

Ward sent his clawed hand through one of the soldier’s stomach, his blood staining his already blood covered hands. The smell of the fresh blood made him feel both nauseous and ravenous. It was really hard to tell right now. A harsh growl ripped from his chest and he threw the soldier aside.

He had already taken down or killed five of the soldiers, and they weren’t obviously getting the message. Blood oozed from just about everyone on his body and it was a miracle that he hadn’t fallen yet. He slashed at another soldier, just as several of them surrounded him.

One loomed above him, ready to strike. A staccato sound of bullets rang out and the soldier dropped to the ground. Ward froze and craned his head to see Skye awkwardly holding the rifle he had kicked to her. She stared at the gun with fear, shocked that she had just shot and possibly killed someone.

Hell, he shouldn’t of have had given her the weapon. He knew that she wasn’t ready, but that hadn’t crossed his mind in his half-feral state. Survival was the only goal here.

He shook his head and snarled, slashing through two more guards. When would they ever get the idea that he could overpower them? They would be dead in a matter of minutes. Were they that stupid challenging a creature they couldn’t even hope to ever understand? Ward thought that way. To him at the moment, all humans were idiots. He felt stronger than all of them, ready to devour. Kill, slash, tear. It sounded so great to him.

And he was enjoying the killing a little too much not to hear the series of gunshots not directed towards him. He sliced and slashed, sliced and slashed. He did so until only five men remained.

They all exchanged nervous glances, backing away slowly from him. Ward’s lips curled over his massive fangs and he growled deeply at them. The soldiers spun on their heels and ran away from him, finally getting the idea. A satisfied growl rumbled in Ward’s chest as his eyes scanned the bodies littering the forest floor, dead or almost there.

But he froze, smelling something that shouldn’t be there and hearing absolutely nothing from Skye. A sweet sickly smell filled his nostrils. Blood. And it wasn’t coming from any of the soldiers.

Ward spun around, freezing as he saw Skye lying on the ground, clutching her stomach as blood pooled heavily from it. His brain went completely static as he ran over to her, dropping to the ground and holding Skye in his arms.

“Skye?” he croaked. “Babe?”

Her eyes were halfway glazed-over, and she was struggling to take even the smallest of breaths. “Grant…” she mumbled quietly. “Help…”

“No, no, no, no, no.” Ward breathed over and over, tears blurring his eyes and running down his face, mixing with the blood. “Oh fuck, oh fuck.”

In his moment of rage, Skye had gotten shot when he couldn’t protect her.

Couldn’t protect her… Couldn’t protect her… He had gotten her killed. Killed… No, she wasn’t dead yet.  
Skye reached up weakly with a bloodied hand, her fingers slipping down Ward’s face and leaving a trail of blood. “I love you, baby.” she smiled. The blood loss was already making her delusional.

“Skye, hold on. Hold on, sweetheart.” Ward repeated, holding her close and ignoring the blood that was covering him. “I’ll find someone. I’ll find someone.”

“No… Can’t…” She choked on the blood that had filled her stomach, some of it splattering out and covering her lip. “I love you. I love you.”

“Skye, no. You’re going to fucking hold on, you hear me?” Ward said, breathing very heavily. “You’re not leaving me here!”

But Skye’s eyes had already fluttered closed and her breaths were coming few and far-between. It wouldn’t be long.

Ward started to sob and brought his head down to hers as he held her tightly, not wanting to let go. Tears dripped down from his eyes and onto her face. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t protect you. I couldn’t keep my one promise. I failed. I failed you. I failed you.”

He sensed that she didn’t have long, her life was starting to bleed out faster. No, he didn’t want to lose her. He didn’t want to lose her. Not now, not ever. A brief thought floated into his head as one of his fangs pierced his lip, one that he would’ve never thought of.

One that could possibly save her, but would more than likely have dire consequences in the end? But what was life if you weren’t human? She would die any other way, this was her only chance. Her only chance. He’d would’ve never thought that he would be her lifeline.

He brought Skye closer and ripped away the collar of her shirt. Piercing red eyes filled with pain, regret, and fear looked down at the dying form in his hands. “I’m so sorry. I’m so damn sorry, Skye. Please… Please forgive me.”

Ward gulped and brought his mouth down to Skye’s shoulder, his fangs cutting easily into her pale skin. She gave a quick, yet violent, jerk as he came back up. He looked with worry at her, but he sensed her heartbeat fade and wink out.

It felt as though something had stabbed him straight into his heart. He had been too late, even his insane idea had failed to save her. He bent over her and sobbed violently, trying to avoid the anger.  
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” he repeated over and over. But the anger started to grow and grow. A growl ripped from his chest and he slowly rose to his feet. He let out a sound that was something somewhere between a scream and a howl. He swung at the nearest tree, his fist going straight through the wood.

Things started to become one, big blur as he released his built-up anger on the trees around him, shredding about every single one. It was a God-given miracle that he didn’t shift. Something was holding him back.

Blood rushed in his ears and nothing was reaching him. He was complete and utter rage, and nothing could probably stop him at this point. Not even the team if they showed up.  
They would just end up dead. Just like Skye.

Ward’s body trembled and shook as the wolf fought its way to get out of his skin. He didn’t even feel like holding back anymore. He gave into the beast, his clothes ripping and shredding as his body tore and contorted into the monster. A pain-filled howl echoed throughout the trees.

And he was too lost in his rage-inducing grief to notice the new and strange growl echoing out from behind his monstrous form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, yeah... There you go. This particular part has been in my head since the beginning of the story. And I still don't know where it came from. I just love things to be dark. And if you want a song that sets the mood for this chapter, check out 'Falling Sky' by Red. That's where the chapter title comes from. Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Can we get a little more comments than just one or two?)


	13. It's Both an Innocence and an Instinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's now clear that Ward saved Skye, but at what price?

Ward didn’t stop until another growl sounded. His entire being froze up, the fur on the back of his massive neck standing on end. He sniffed the air, a strange feeling came over him as a smell both strange and familiar came to him. A soft whine seeped out of his chest as he turned around to face both the familiar and the strange.

He cocked his head as another wolf, smaller than him, stared back at him. Female, he could smell it. The wolf’s brown fur bristled as she growled at him. He looked her in the eyes, a sudden calm, an eerie one at that, came over him and his head cleared. He blinked a few times to collect himself and his blood-red eyes surveyed his surroundings.

His eyes drifted to the pile of torn clothes with the puddle of blood next to them and then to the strange, new wolf. She smelled familiar, more of a sweet scent than a threatening one. He blinked again, still trying to connect the pieces, tiny as they were.

The small wolf looked back at him, her expression softening. It was as though she was trying to connect the pieces as well. Ward sensed it, she was confused and pained. Like all of this was unknown to her. Completely unknown.

Ward’s head cleared more from the rage, the female wolf had a calming effect on him. His strong, beating heart skipped a few beats as he finally realized just what was going on and just who this new wolf was. His eyes drifted back to the torn pile of bloody clothes.

“ _Skye_.” he thought, taking a small step towards her. “ _Skye._ ”

Skye hadn’t died at all. His insane idea to save her had worked a little too well in the end. He had turned her in the end.

The weight of the world now felt heavy on his massive shoulders. He had forced his own problem onto her just because he couldn’t bear to go on without her. He felt so selfish for doing this. What had he been thinking in that moment? Not much, of course. His only thought was saving Skye, but he had created a monster in the process.

The Skye-wolf cocked her head and walked towards him, step after step. Ward knew that she was in pain and extremely confused. The first several shifts were this way. Agonizing pain and sheer confusion, especially for someone who didn’t know what was coming. Much like himself.

Ward stayed still, trying to show no hint of retaliation towards her. He knew that the slightest thing would more than likely set her off in this state. He watched as she approached closer, stopping just a foot away from his massive form. She blinked and looked at him, still trying to figure out just what was going on.

Now, Ward still stood over a foot taller than her and was still way more muscular than her. Skye was lean with muscle while Ward was extremely bulky with it. He noticed that her eyes were strange, they weren’t red at all like his was. They were bright blue, as cold as ice. Figures that they were opposite of his. He was fire and she was ice. Ironic in this whole mess.

He continued to stay still as Skye still looked at him with utter confusion. She sniffed him and a soft growl rumbled in her chest. Sensing that she had calmed as well, Ward let out a soft whine to show that he wasn’t going to hurt her anymore. He saw the hurt in her eyes. He knew that she probably felt betrayed for him doing this to her.

Ward wanted to tell her that he was sorry, but he really couldn’t do it at the moment. He tensed up as he saw Skye’s eyes roll back into her head and she fell to the ground. Her form gave a quick, but violent, jerk before she shifted back to human.

His eyes surveyed her now-naked form, relieved that her wounds had healed. “ _At least the wounds are healed. But she can’t stay here. Need to find shelter._ ” He remembered a cabin somewhere in the woods that they had passed, perhaps he could find shelter they could use. Looking around, he went to one of the bigger soldiers and ripped the clothes off of him.

He went back over to Skye’s unconscious form and tried to carefully wrap the shredded clothes around her for protection. Hopefully that cabin would have some kind of clothes that the both of them could use. He gently picked her up in his massive, furred arms and gave a soft whine.

“ _Skye, I’m so sorry I forced this upon you. I hope you understand. Please forgive me._ ” he thought as he started towards the cabin with Skye in his arms.

* * *

 

 

(Elsewhere)

They had ran out when they first heard the distant gunfire. Trip had estimated that it was over a mile away. Coulson did know that Skye and Ward had gone on a walk somewhere in the woods and just knew that the gunfire was directed towards them.

They wasted no time running towards the source of it, hoping that nothing too serious had happened. Fitzsimmons had stayed behind to watch the Bus and prepare the lab in case there were any injuries.

The three agents ran until the gunfire suddenly ceased and after a few long seconds, a howl sounded that broke through the trees.

Coulson gulped and turned towards May and Triplett, “I know that howl.”

“It’s Ward, isn’t it?” Trip asked. He took a breath, “That almost sounded like one of those cartoon howls that happens after someone gets hurt.”

“What?” Coulson breathed. “Hurt? Oh dammit, please don’t tell me…” He shook his head, “Shit. We need to hurry the hell up.”

The three wasted no time running towards the location where the howl had come from. It took them a while, but they stopped cold as they reached the location. A ton of bodies, at least twenty littered the forest floor, blood splattering just about everywhere.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Trip commented, a hand over his mouth. “This was a dammed massacre.”

Coulson surveyed one of the corpses, seeing the jagged tears in its skin, “This is Grant’s handiwork alright. I’ve seen this before. Even in the attack from the other day. He went ballistic.” He looked up and surveyed the area, “Then where are they?”

May’s eyes drifted to a pile of torn and bloodied clothes, frowning as she went over to them. She examined them, “Phil, these are Skye’s clothes.” she stated.

“What?” Coulson asked, coming over. “I see Grant’s, I understand his. But Skye’s? What the hell is going on?”

“You don’t think that he turned on her, do you? There’s plenty of blood here.”

“It’s very unlikely. He would never hurt her.”

“He almost did the other day. There’s no stopping that thing when it’s loose. You see all of these bodies around. It killed all of these men. Who’s to say that it didn’t kill Skye and dragged her off deeper into the woods?”

Coulson’s face paled, “No, I don’t think,”

“It’s likely. Phil, you need to face the fact that Ward harbors a highly dangerous monster within him. And he’s slowly melding with it or something. You’ve seen him the past two weeks or so, he’s getting more and more feral. I wouldn’t put it past him to do something like this nowadays. You got to realize that he’s not the same boy you rescued seventeen years ago. He’s an animal, a monster. And he will probably need to be put down and taken care of eventually before he ends up loose somewhere where it’s more than just enemy soldiers getting killed. He could eventually slaughter civilians. He’s not the same scared fifteen-year-old anymore.” May harshly explained.

“I will not believe any of that until I actually see it, May. I know Grant better than he knows himself. He will not get to that point.” Coulson stressed, crossing his arms.

Triplett gulped, “Sir, and what happens if it does?” he asked. “Ward has been going off the deep end lately.”

“I’ll let you know when that time actually does come.”

 

* * *

 

 

(The Cabin, Two Hours Later)

Skye awoke with a scream, flinging the covers off of her. She blinked at looked around, confusion setting in. What just had happened? She remembered getting shot and then nothing. Then pain beyond all belief, then nothing again. She pulled up the large t-shirt she found herself up to look at her abdomen. Her stomach lurched, nothing.

The room spun as her head began to throb badly. Everything was suddenly too loud and she could hear everything. She could hear the clock ticking in the other room, a bird somewhere off in the distance, and other animal chattering. Her nose hurt like hell and her stomach was in knots. She tried to get out of bed, but a gruff, yet soothing, voice stopped her.

“I wouldn’t get out of that bed if I were you, Skye.”

Skye blinked and looked to see Ward coming out what seemed to be a bathroom. He was shirtless and had a ragged towel wrapped around his waist. And his hair glistened with water droplets. “What?” she asked. Normally, she would marvel at what she was seeing, but something felt totally off to her. “Where are we?”

Ward shrugged, “Some cabin. You got hurt and I broke in here. Luckily it’s been occupied recently, so there’s plenty of supplies here. Must be someone’s weekend home, don’t think they’ll miss a few things going missing.”

She could tell that he was skirting around something. Fear and regret shone in his eyes. And for some strange reason, a weird odor was coming off of him. Didn’t he just shower?

A nagging, hunger-like pain throbbed in Skye’s stomach and she rubbed at it. The room spun again and her vision went blurred before returning to normal. She now found Ward at her side, his hands on her shoulders.

“You okay?” he asked worriedly.

“Got a little lightheaded, that’s all.” Skye blinked and shook her head, “Ward, what’s going on here? Why aren’t we back at the Bus? Why’d we come here?”

Ward gulped, “What do you remember?”

“I remember getting shot in my dammed stomach, now there’s nothing there!” she exclaimed, not noticing as her voice contorted into a growl at the end. “Now I’m here in someone else’s clothes. I feel weird. Grant, what the hell is going on?” She tried to get out of the bed, but Ward held her down.

He took a sharp breath and sat on the edge of the bed, taking Skye’s hand in his own, “Skye, I… I need to tell you something and I know that you’re going to freak out. Look, there was so much blood and I couldn’t think. You were dying and I had to do something. There was no time to get any other help. I freaked out. I-I couldn’t lose you.” There was a tremor in his voice and his words confused Skye.

“ _Almost died_?!” Skye exclaimed, her eyes widening. “What the hell are you talking about?” Blue shown in her eyes and Ward sensed her growing agitation. And he could smell the wolf hiding just beneath her human skin.

Ward gulped, reaching out and stroking her face, “I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Skye asked, not noticing as her body began to tremble with the growing rage. “Grant, what the hell did you do?” Her voice was low and stern. She wanted to know.”

“I did something that I regret. Something that I cannot undo. I saved your life, but ultimately screwed you over in the end. I-I’m sorry.” he croaked, pain shining in his whiskey-brown eyes. “I thought I could save you.”

He wasn’t making any sense to her. Saved her life? Screwed her over? Regret? Just what had he done? “Grant,” she began softly, fear creeping its way into her voice. “What did you do to me?”

Ward’s face had already grown white as a sheet and there was a noticeable tremble in his entire frame. He was scared out of his mind. Skye knew that it was big and something that he had hated to do. Something that he would hate himself in the end for doing.

“I turned you into a monster.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you go. Skye's now a wolf because of Ward's last minute attempt at trying to save her. May thinks that Ward is truly gone and has more than likely killed Skye. And Ward can barely handle trying to tell Skye just what he has done to her. None of this is good at all. Keep the comments and kudos coming! They help me out a whole lot!


	14. Sleep With One Eye Open, Not to be Their Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward explains what happened and Skye reacts, badly.

“Grant,” Skye repeated. “What did you do to me?” Her voice was low and quiet, fear seeping its way into it. She looked Ward straight into his eyes, which shone with both fear and regret.

Ward swallowed the lump that had formed in this throat, “I made a mistake. Thought I could save you.” He reached over and pulled at her shirt collar, revealing a nasty-looking scar that she didn’t remember ever having. He nodded at it, “That…” he trailed off slightly. “That’s what I did.”

Skye strained her neck to see the white and slightly-lumpy scar that shone on her skin, half on her collarbone and half on her shoulder. Her stomach lurched as she realized that it looked like teeth marks, big teeth marks. She looked straight back to Ward, who now looked like a hurt dog.

“I’m sorry.” he whispered. “I couldn’t do anything else. We were too far out and you would’ve died before anyone could come. I freaked out and did the only thing that came to mind.”

She looked back to the scar and then back to Ward, fear and understanding in her eyes, “Grant, did you… Did you _bite_ me?” she asked.

He nodded numbly, taking her hand, “You know if there was any other way, I would’ve done it. But there wasn’t. There was just way too much damn blood and I fucked up. I really did.”

“Grant, what did this do to me?” she whispered, slightly scooting away from him.

“Like I said, I turned you into a monster… I’m so damn sorry.” He shook his head and looked towards the ground, Skye could swear that there were tears forming in his eyes.

Skye’s stomach dropped as she put two and two together. Ward had _turned_ her to save her. “I’m like you, aren’t I?” she asked, a hint of hostility in her voice. Blue sparked in her eyes, a sure sign of growing anger.

“U-Unfortunately. Y-Yes.” Ward stammered, reaching out to take her hand once more. But Skye slapped it away, much harder than she intended. He drew his hand away with the pain, holding it in his other hand. It would more than likely bruise.

“You turned me into a freak?!” she exclaimed, bolting to her feet and leaving Ward alone on the bed. “I’m some kind of feral monster now? One that kills and devours everything it sees?!” A growl rumbled in her chest.

Ward stood to his feet, holding his hands up, “Skye, you know I don’t take those terms very lightly here. Y-You’re not a monster.”

Skye ran her hands through her hair and hissed, “Did you even think of what I wanted in that moment?” she asked. “Did you honestly think what would happen if you sunk your dammed fangs into me? Did you?”

“I-I only saw the blood, Skye. My only thought was that you were going to die.” Ward’s voice cracked and tears shone in his eyes. “I honestly wasn’t thinking of anything else. I-I wanted to save you.”

“And how is this saving me?!” she growled, pointing at him. She paused momentarily, staring at her hands as she saw that her nails had turned into sharp claws. She blinked and shook her head, “I may have supported you, but that’s only because I loved you, Grant! I didn’t want to become the monster that you are! Maybe I liked being human!”

“Skye,” Ward shied away from her, tears rolling down his face. “P-Please.”

“And I’m not going to stop! If you wanted to save me, you should’ve found another dammed way instead of turning me into a fucking wolf!”

Ward approached her, but she in turn growled at him. “Get the hell away from me.”

“Skye, get a hold of yourself.” Ward warned, trying to hold his ground. “You don’t want to lose yourself. Not now. There’s no telling what would happen if you lost it now. The first few, um, shifts are the most important and they don’t need to be out of sheer rage. Trust me, you’ll end up exactly like me.”

“Then why did you bite me then?”

“Because I didn’t want to lose you. I already felt guilty enough for getting you into that situation, Skye. If you had of died…” He shook his head, “Shit, I wouldn’t know of what to do.”

“But you had to turn me into something like you?!”

“I thought that you didn’t care about the wolf!”

“Yeah, _you._ But not me, I don’t want to be some _thing_!” Her fangs had longed formed and her ears were pointed. Her ice blue eyes shown from underneath her somewhat enlarged brow area. “I don’t want to be like this.”

“Skye,”

“Shut up, Grant!”

“Take a good look at yourself and please calm down.” He pointed to the bathroom. “I know that you hate me, and you’re going to for a long time. But I will help you through this, I’ve already hurt you enough already.”

Skye cocked her head and spun on her heels, heading towards the small bathroom of the cabin that they were in. She gasped as soon as she saw her changed reflection. She looked so _feral._ She only imagined how Ward felt when he first changed.

“Take a few deep breaths and try to calm yourself down, Skye.” Ward called. “Clean yourself up. Take as long as you want to. I’m going to find some clothes and I’ll be out here when you’re ready. Again, I’m so sorry.”

Skye gulped and did as Ward instructed, closing her eyes and breathing in and out deeply through her nose. She felt her heartrate decrease rapidly and saw her countenance return back to normal as she opened her eyes. _“What am I supposed to do? I know he cares, but I can’t be like this. Like some monster.”_ she thought. _“Where do I go now?”_

She spent the next while taking a shower, seeing that Ward had gotten everything together that she needed. After a good thirty minutes, she got out and slipped on the clothes that Ward had picked out for her, which were only a small pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. She combed her hands through her wet hair and took a sharp breath, reaching for the doorknob.

Opening it, she saw Ward, now fully clothed, sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. Surprisingly enough, he wore what he always wore: jeans, boots, and a black t-shirt. Skye gulped and stepped out, “Hey.” she croaked.

Ward looked up, revealing red-rimmed eyes and purple bags. He had been crying. “You look better.”

Now Skye felt really bad for snapping at him. He truly regretted what he had done. All he wanted to do was to save her, and all he got was a monster in the end. One that he blamed himself for. She looked him straight in the eyes and a soothing calm washed over her, like nothing else mattered. Gulping again, she walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed next to him.

“You’re one to talk.” she tried to joke. “You don’t look so hot.”

He shook his head, “It’s nothing. I just… To plainly put it, I hate myself for doing this to you, babe.” he replied taking her hands. “I forced my own curse upon you, the very one that I hate. All because I was too selfish to let you go.”

“How was that selfish?” she asked. “You were trying to save me.”

“I could’ve done something better. My wolf form could’ve probably gotten you back to the Bus in no time and Simmons could’ve done something. But I freaked. I did the worst possible thing.”

“It was the heat of the moment.”

“Are you mad?”

Skye breathed, “Yes and no. I’m glad that you kept me from dying, but mad that you didn’t try anything else. And besides, I can’t be mad at you, Grant. You’re just too much.”

Ward scoffed, his expression lightening, “I’m sorry.” he repeated.

“I know that you are.”

“And I’ll keep reminding you. And I still love you, Skye. This doesn’t change anything, does it?”

Skye sighed, “No, it doesn’t.” she replied, looking him in the eyes. “I still love you too. It’s just that… Where do we go from here? Can, can we even go back to the team like this? They’re not going to like what you’ve done.”

“No, they’re not. Especially since I slaughtered all of those guards. They probably think that you’re dead and that I did it. They think I’m too far gone.”

She reached out and placed a hand on his stubble-covered face, “You wouldn’t do anything like that, Grant. You wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Yet I turned you.”

“You freaked out.”

“Okay, I don’t know when we can go back to the team. I need to help you a bit first before you go back so you won’t snap at them. It may be a while.”

“But they’re going to think that I’m dead!”

“It’s better than you snapping and shifting on someone. Control is the best part. Even though I don’t have all that much.”

Skye reached out and wrapped her arms around him, scooting closer to his side, “You will protect me, right? You’ll help me get through this?”

Ward smiled and leaned in to kiss her, “Of course I will, I’m not going to let anything else happen to you. I will die before I see you get hurt.” he replied. “Now get some more sleep. You need it.”

“But I’m hungry.”

“Sleep first, we’ll deal about that later.” Ward was now growing slightly afraid. A hungry newborn wolf was dangerous, he had to find her something to eat sooner or later. Perhaps a deer, no matter how repulsive to him that sounded, would suffice. But she needed to sleep first.

“Fine.” she huffed. “As, as long as you sleep with me too. You look horrible.”

He smiled again, “Sure.” He stood up and went to the other side of the bed as Skye situated herself under the covers. Kicking off his boots, Ward slid into the bed as well, Skye moving towards him like a magnet. She wrapped her arms around him and curled into his side. He smiled, she was already kind of like a dog. Maybe he could get back at her later for all of the dog jokes she ever had told.

Her now-heavy and rhythmic breathing created a soothing melody for him, calming and erasing every worry that had settled within him. He readjusted his head so it touched the top of hers, and the two wolves drifted asleep like there wasn’t a single problem in the entire world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least Skye didn't shift on him. And there's a reason why Ward was able to calm her so fast and vice versa. It's just a matter of what happens next. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	15. It's Hiding in the Dark, It's Teeth are Razor-sharp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward crashes to his regret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Suicide attempts.

Ward woke the next morning with a start, jerking awake as the sunlight filtered through the window and onto his face. He turned and saw Skye still curled up into his side, a soothing calm coming over him. But that didn't stop the crashing regret. 

Everything that he had done to hurt Skye came back to him, assaulting his mind like violent warfare. His shoulders sagged as he sat up and continued to stare at her. A soft whimper-like whine came from Skye and she shifted uncomfortably in her sleep. He knew that she was still in pain. The pain usually continued to grow in magnitude for the first few days, especially if the newborn tended not to shift a lot. The wolf wanted out, and Skye wanted to keep it in.

 Ward fought the urge to stay by her side and stood to his feet, heading toward the bathroom. He slipped off his borrowed clothes and threw them aside. He opened the shower door and turned the water to its hottest setting, he wanted to feel like he was burning in hell. That's what he deserved anyways. He stepped into the scalding-hot stream, ignoring the burning pain on his skin as the steam rose into the air and filled the small space.

_ “What the hell did I do?” _ he asked.  _ “I did the worst possible thing to her and dammed her to a painful fate. She doesn't deserve to live like this. I do. I'm the monster. There’s no damn hope for me anymore. I should just die.” _

A pain-filled wail escaped his lips and he leaned against the shower wall with his hands, the hell-like water burning the skin of his back. The steam was making it hard to see, but he didn't care. The wail soon morphed into a distorted growl and Ward started punching the fiberglass, the material shattering underneath his force. He growled again and let his claws out and started slashing at the material. Then his self-loathing thoughts turned on him.

He started violently slashing at his skin, blood flying into the air and splattering against the walls and the clear door. He cut into his arms, his chest, and any skin he could get to, opening long and deep gashes. All he hoped was that he could take his own life, but he couldn't do that. Maybe he would just bleed out.

 And he continued to slash, slash, and slash, not hearing the screams and the rattling of the bathroom door.

* * *

 

 Skye woke with the first howl, jolting up and sensing that something was horribly, horribly wrong. Her eyes darted to the door of the bathroom once she had noticed that Ward was not in the bed with her. She jumped to her feet and ran to the door, trying to open it. But it was locked. 

 “Grant?” she called. “Are you in there?”

 No response.

But she could hear growls and what seemed to be loud crashing sounds. Her heart lurched and she started banging on the door. “Grant?! Grant, open the door! What's going on! Babe, please open the door!”

 She still got no response and she took a breath, ramming her shoulder into the door as hard as she could. The door splintered and broke open, opening to the steam-filled bathroom. And the foul stench hit her like a train: blood, and lots of it. She ran in, freezing as she saw the blood that was splattered all over the shower door.

 “Grant?! Oh my God, what the hell did you do?!” Skye exclaimed, running to the shower and opening the door to reveal Ward lying in a pool of his own blood, massive gashes all over his body that oozed a lot of blood. She quickly turned off the water and moved Ward to where he was sitting up, not noticing how easy it was to do so. 

 Ward was visibly shivering, his eyes both glazed-over and shining red. He looked straight past Skye, like she wasn't even there. Skye put her hands firmly on his shoulder and shook him gently. 

 “Grant, babe, do you hear me?” she asked quietly. “Grant, please talk to me.”

 “Let me die, I want to die. Monster, I'm a monster.” he mumbled, still shaking. “Blood. Let me drown in the blood.”

_ “Oh my God, he tried to kill himself.”  _ Skye thought. 

“Grant, why do you want to die?”

 “Deserve it. Hurt you. Turned you. Let me burn in hell. That's where monsters like me belong.”

“This isn't your fault, Grant. Please, snap out of this. You don't deserve to die.” She looked him straight in the eyes, “Come back to me, Grant. Please.”

 Still shaking, Ward numbly looked over to Skye, “Help me.” he muttered. “Help me.”

 Skye gulped and watched as the gashes started to close up. She nodded and stood to her feet, “We need to wash that blood off of you, then.” she stated calmly, trying not to freak out.

 Ward had tried to kill himself over the guilt he felt towards turning Skye. She helped him to his feet and he turned to look at her. She hadn't noticed that he was naked, and the blood dripped all over his bare skin.

“Don't leave me.” he muttered.

 “Trust me, I'm not going to leave you.” Skye stated. She gulped and started to strip her clothes off. Ward moved over to allow her in. She turned the hot stream back on and grabbed the washcloth from the far wall, which amazingly didn't have blood on it. And she began to scrub the blood away from Ward’s skin.

Ward closed his eyes and let out a soft whine as the cloth moved over his raw skin. Skye's eyes trailed where bright red marks marked his skin. Those would scar.

“I think some of these are really going to scar, Grant.” she whispered. “What were you thinking? You don't deserve to die.”

No respose.

“I'm not angry at you. Yes, I'm hurt that you didn't try anything else. But I love you and I can't be mad at you. I'm just upset that you've hurt yourself like this. You're not a monster, don't treat yourself like one.” she paused and scrubbed more at the blood that ran down his torso. “How much blood do you have in you?

I know you're not going to talk to me for awhile, but please don't close yourself off from me. Hell,” she scoffed. “you're supposed to be the one helping me, not the other way around.”

 Ward finally looked at her, hurt and pain in his eyes, “I'm sorry.” he croaked. “I couldn't stop myself. The blood, it just felt right.”

“Oh, Grant. I know you, you can fight through this. You are  _ not  _ at fault here. Don't kill yourself over me. I'm not that great.” She smiled at him and scrubbed away the last of the blood, “I hate it when you do this to yourself. I love you, Grant. I don't want you to fall like this.” She threw the now-bloodied washcloth aside and moved closer to Ward, “We don't more problems to deal with.”

She stood on her toes and kissed Ward on the lips, “You mean way too much to me for me to lose you like this.”

Ward gulped and nodded, “I-I guess you're right. I'm sorry.” he muttered.

Skye put a finger on his lips, “Shh. Quiet.” she smirked.

He smiled slightly and leaned down and returned the kiss, digging his hand in her hair. Skye backed into the cracked fiberglass, pleasure coming over her.

“God, I love you.” Ward breathed, coming up.

“Shh. Keep going.”

And what happened after that starkly contrasted against the blood that still stained the walls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's definitely clear that Ward truly regrets what he's done. But Skye's there to clean it up. (And I do not write smut, but you know what happened afterwards.) And the next chapter? Skye's new 'powers' really start to take hold. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	16. Stay Away From Me, The Beast is Ugly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward takes Skye for her first 'hunt' and a darker problem is revealed.

After everything had settled, which took about three hours, Ward tried his best to find him and Skye something to eat. He knew that she was starving and he knew that it was a really bad thing for a newborn wolf to be hungry, but he didn't know just how bad it was until he heard the howl followed by a massive crash. Spinning on his feet, Ward sprinted to the bedroom to find Skye curled up in a fetal position on the floor next to the bed. He cautiously approached her, sensing a strained feeling from her and smelling the wolf.

“Skye? Babe?” he asked quietly, kneeling next to her. “Are you okay?”

Her now-blue eyes looked to him, full of pain and  _ hunger. _ Her entire body was trembling and Ward could smell the wolf right underneath her skin. The wolf was ravenous and it wanted out. Normal human food wouldn't suffice. Some wolfs tended to hunt for their food, but Ward found it repulsive and kept to normal food. But Skye would have to have something that a wolf would like. They would have to hunt.

“I'm hungry.” she whimpered. “Grant, help me. Please.” It was obvious that she was in tremendous pain. She was trying her best to hold the wolf back, but was staring to fail. Ward gave it to her, she was strong. He wouldn't have been able to hold it back this long.

He helped her up and held her close, trying to steady her as she shook visibly. “It's okay.” he whispered, kissing her forehead. “You just need to eat, and that means that you need to hunt.”

“Hunt?” she croaked, not looking at him. “You don't do that.”

“That's because it's more common in newborns. I don't need to. But you do. Helps satisfy the wolf.” He let her go and stood up, helping her to her feet. “I'll help you, but you're gonna have to shift. It's going to be scary, but I'll be right there. Instinct will then take over.”

Skye didn't even protest, she just wanted the pain to end. She let Ward lead her outside as her body continued to shake. He stopped and turned to look at her, “This is going to be painful, but it'll be over before you know it. I'm right here.”

She didn't look at him, “How do I do it?” she asked quietly.

“Just tap into it, let it take over. But I think me being here will keep you calm. We have some kind of connection that I can't explain. I'll have to figure that out later, but I have a hunch.”

Her blue-colored gaze landed on him, “What do you mean?”

“I don't have much time to explain it now, but I believe that we've bonded. That... That we're mates.”

“Mates?”

“Wolves can bond, you know. They can choose lifelong mates. Those they choose to protect at all costs. Those that they form unbreakable bonds with. Those that they will never leave.” he explained.

“You really think that?”

He nodded and smiled, repositioning his hands on her shoulders, “Yes, I do. But we can talk about this later.” His face hardened, “You need to eat. Take a deep breath and just let it take over. Again, I'm right here.”

She nodded and closed her eyes, inhaling as hard as she could. She tried to reach that dark part of her mind that hid the wolf. Breaking the mold, she gapsed as a shocking wave of pain knocked her to her knees. Ward stepped back, trying not to go towards her as her body began to writhe. He gulped as her body began to tear and grow, fur spouting and limbs elongating. A growl ripped from her chest as her clothes shredded and her human form completely disappeared. The wolf stood to her feet and looked Ward straight into his eyes.

“So that's what that looks like.” Ward commented. He nodded at her and stepped forward, running his hand through the fur on her head. She gave a pleased whine and he smiled, “Well, I guess I know who's in control here.”

He frowned as Skye's nose turned towards the air and she picked up the scent of another animal. “Skye,” he warned. “Wait for me.” But she growled and took off past him, after whatever she had picked up.

Ward groaned and shook his head. He cracked his neck and allowed the wolf to tear through, his body tearing and rearranging itself as he shifted. He blinked, trying to get a hold of his surroundings and got a hold of Skye's scent. Trying to catch up as fast as he could, thoughts started to assault his mind:

_ “What if SHIELD finds her and kills her?” _

_ “What if she kills the team?” _

_ “What if she gets to civilization and I’m not there to calm her?” _

Ward shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and continued following Skye’s scent until it became mixed with the smell of blood. Deer blood. She had already found her kill. He found her in the next clearing, knelt over a large buck, blood pooling from its dead body. She grunted at looked up at him, blood and gore glistening on her snout, Ward blinked at her and she continued eating. He didn’t want to get involved with this, he would wait until she was done and then he would try to calm her so they could get back to the cabin. He was planning on trying to get the both of them back to the team. They couldn’t hide forever.

Deciding to sit down, Ward laid on the ground, mainly to show that he wasn’t a threat to Skye. Despite the situation, he found it quite relaxing. He had never felt so calm in this form before, it was so surreal to him. He closed his eyes as the scent of blood continued to fill the air. This was all so crazy, but he actually didn’t mind. He started to drift off but a soft whine jerked him back.

Opening his eyes, he found Skye crouched next to him, blood still covering the fur around her snout. She nuzzled him with her nose and curled up in his side, his massive size encompassing her much smaller stature. Again, this was all strange. She smelled of blood, but yet he was letting her right up against him. And it made him feel so calm and happy. This is how he knew that he was right about the two of them being mates, and he didn’t want to let it end anytime soon.

_ “At least she’s happy.”  _ he thought, looking at her curled-up form.  _ “But we can’t stay in these woods like this. Someone will find us. We need to get back to the team, no matter how risky that is at the moment.” _

But he decided to let her lay there for a little while longer, they still had plenty of daylight left to get back to the Bus.

* * *

(Later)

 

Ward watched as Skye stepped out of the bathroom, towels wrapped around her torso and her hair. She had cleaned up since her little hunt. Smiling at him, she quickly noticed the worry on Ward’s face and realized that something heavy weighed on his mind.

“Grant, what’s the matter?” she asked, sitting down next to him on the bed.

He shook his head, “Again, I’ve been thinking. I know I told you that we should go back to the team before things get bad, but I… I don’t know how they’re going to react to all this. Coulson’s not going to like what I’ve done.”

“Then we keep it hidden. You were able to do it.”

“Yeah, because I’ve been like this since I was thirteen, Skye. You were turned just the other day. You’re unstable, it’s going to be hard to hide it.” Ward replied, taking her hand. He scoffed, “And they already can tell that I’m changing, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Fitzsimmons and Triplett have only seen the monster, the monster that tried to  _ kill  _ you. They haven’t seen what little good it can do. So they have that mentality that it’s an utter monster.

I wouldn’t doubt that our ‘little’ disappearance has sparked some outrage. They probably either think that those soldiers captured us but I don’t think that’s a likely thought.”

“What do you mean?”

“I left plenty of carnage back there, at left fifteen bodies and dead and bloodied.” he continued. “So they know that I did that. But then there’s your clothes. Your torn and bloodied clothes. They maybe even think I killed you and then ran off somewhere.” Ward swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, “Coulson and May know that there is something wrong with me, and they probably fear that the worst has happened. That I’ve gone completely wild and have killed you. I would never do such a thing, but they don’t know that. I know something’s wrong with me and I can’t help it. And I believe that this whole thing with you has only made it worse.”

Skye’s face fell and she squeezed his hand, “Grant, what do you mean?” she asked quietly.

“When you were taking a shower, I remembered I few things that I’ve read about mates. They’re normally extremely protective of one another, but sometimes it goes a little too far. One may become so protective, that they become violent and feral, seeing everything but their mate as a threat. The protective instinct goes just a little too far.” he explained. “That’s what I’m afraid of here, Skye.”

Something churned in Skye’s stomach as torment shone in her boyfriend’s eyes, “Grant, what are you saying?” she repeated. “What are you going on about? You're really starting to worry me here and now's not the time for that. We've got plenty of other problems to deal with right now before we can add something else. And besides, I don't want anything happening to you. What the hell is going on here?” her voice had taken both a worried and angered tone. 

He laughed sadly and shook his head, bringing his hands up to them. He kept his gaze away from Skye, “Please don’t tell anyone this when he get back Skye.” he softly pleaded. “Not even Coulson. I can’t risk this getting out, not until I know if it’s really happening or not.”

“Grant, what the hell is going on here? What’s wrong with you?” Skye had now gotten to her feet and was looking at her mate with worry. He still hadn’t explained the whole mate thing to her yet and it still confused her. Now he was talking about becoming violent and feral over her? Just what the hell was going on? 

Red eyes met hers and Ward smiled weakly to reveal his sharp fangs, “I’m afraid that I’m becoming a monster that I can’t stop, Skye. One that will devour everything that we know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Skye and Ward are revealed to be mates, which isn't surprising. And remember what was wrong with Ward from a few chapters ago? Yeah, it's coming back even worse this time. Way, way worse. Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Please comment, it's what motivates me!)


	17. And I Can't Help Who I've Become

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward's 'condition' becomes clear.

The sudden change in Ward’s appearance startled Skye, causing her to fall off of the bed and crash to the floor. She held on tight to her towel to keep it from falling off as she stood to her feet, Ward still looking at her with his crimson eyes. “Grant?” she croaked. “What do you mean?”

 He stood with a small laugh and spread his hands out in front of him, “I mean exactly what I say, Skye.” he stressed. “I’m becoming a monster.”

“Why do you figure this?” Skye asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

“Because how I’ve been acting because of you.” Ward said, a sad smile plastered on his face and his sharp canines gleaming in the light. “When it comes to you, I get _violent._ You saw me the other day. I slaughtered most of those men _because_ of you. That… That’s not normal. And I feel it deep in my chest. It’s an aching, gnawing hunger. One that wants to _kill_ everyone as long as it’s not you.”

“Grant, you were trying to protect us back there.” Skye protested. “I don’t think that’s a logical reason to think that you’re becoming a monster.”

“I enjoyed it, Skye!” Ward barked, pain shining in his eyes. “I remember loving every kill, the way that the blood permeated the air.” His face hardened and he locked his gaze onto his mate, “That’s not me at all, you know that. Something’s wrong. Very wrong.”

“Then why don’t you want to tell Coulson?” Skye asked, crossing her arms despite her growing fear. “He can help, Grant. He’s your adoptive father for God’s sakes!”

“He already thinks that I’m losing it!” Ward snapped, approaching her. “Ever since you found out about all of this, I’m been going down some kind of path of no return. I don’t even think I can come back from this. Like I told you, they probably think that I went completely wild and killed you. Now I’m off somewhere hiding, waiting to strike whoever is the unfortunate soul to cross my path.

 He knows that something is wrong and if he’s to find out about this, I’ll be sent away for sure. And if SHIELD higher-ups know, I’m dead. And you’ll probably be dead too. One werewolf’s enough, two is way too much.” he continued. “It’s either me or everyone else. They’ll take me out before I really can become a threat. I’m a monster and that’s that, Skye. There’s no changing it. Now, I’m slowly turning into some kind of wild beast that is far from who I really am. That gnawing hunger is growing, and it’s not going to stop, Skye. I can’t help it, no one can.”

“Then why keep it from everyone else then, Grant? There has to be some kind of way.” Skye continued. “Keeping it from everyone is only going to do way more harm than good.”

“Because if I tell them now, they’re going to blame me for everything. They’re going to blame me for you, they’re going to blame me for the attack. Coulson may care for me, but if it comes down to it, he’ll have me taken out. I’m going to be killed eventually, Skye. I just rather have a little more time before just that happens. Not telling them will buy me more time. I may not be myself when the time comes, but at least I had more time to be with you.”

Skye took a breath, “You are not going to be killed, Grant.” she said firmly. “I’m telling you that right now. If someone tries to lay a finger on you, I will fight back.”

“What if it’s the team?”

“Grant, they’re not going to do anything to you.”

“May already hates me! It won’t take long for everyone else to do so. And now that all of this has happened, I don’t know how they feel about me right now. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Don’t say any of this. Let’s just get back to the Bus and just see what is going on. I can hide all of this as long as I can. I’ll try. But you, you need to figure out what is really going on with you, Grant. I don’t want to lose you.” Skye approached him and her close presence calmed him. She smiled at him as the red faded from his eyes and his countenance returned to normal. “No one is taking you away.”

Ward wrapped his arms around her after taking the towel off of her head and throwing it aside. He buried his head in her wet hair, “And what if that person is me?” he asked. “What if I can’t stop this monster?”

“Then we’ll deal with it when that time comes.”

He nodded and pulled away from her, “I guess you’re right.” He took a sharp breath, “Get dressed. I want to leave for the Bus as soon as possible. Be prepared for anything though, I don’t know what Coulson has done since we’ve gone missing.”

Skye smiled at him and turned to the dresser of ‘borrowed’ clothes, “We’ll be fine, Grant. It’s the team. They would never hurt the either of us.”

Ward looked off to the side guiltily as Skye rummaged for clothes, “I don’t know about that. Fear does some strange things.”

 

 

(An Hour Later)

Ward froze up just as they reached the section of trees that separated them from the Bus. He shook his head and turned to Skye, “I can’t do this. I can’t face them after everything.”

“Grant, they don’t know what you’ve done yet. There’s no reason to be afraid at the moment.” She took and squeezed his hand. “They don’t know.”

“And that’s the scary part. What are they going to do when they find out? What are they going to do the first time you shift in front of them? That’s only a matter of time, especially with you being a newborn. Hell, it’s probably going to happen within the next couple of days.” Fear flared in his eyes, “And it’s not going to be good.”

“I… I don’t know. But if they’re okay with you, then they’ll be fine with me, right?”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

Ward’s now-darkened eyes averted from her and in the sunlight Skye could now see the heavy bags that hung over his eyes. His eyes were glazed over and he had a couple days’ worth of stubble on his face. He just looked _sick_ and Skye didn’t know whether it was from his ‘condition’ or the fact that a mountain of regret weighed on his shoulders. And she really didn’t want to know.

“Come on, let’s go. We probably don’t need to keep them waiting any longer.”

He nodded weakly and started forward, Skye following. They broke through the tree line and could hear the team talking in the hangar of the Bus:

“What if he’s long gone and we can’t find him? What do we do then?”

“I don’t know. But I still refuse to believe that he killed Skye. That is not at all like him. They’re both out there.”

Ward hesitated but Skye kept pushing them forward. They approached the Bus and walked up the ramp, stopping just right inside the hold. The team looked up at them and all froze up, relief etching out on their faces.

Coulson dropped the papers he was holding and ran over to them, “Oh, thank God!” he exclaimed. “You’re okay! What happened?”

“We got attacked by more of those soldiers that were after Grant.” Skye started to explain, figuring that Ward didn’t want to talk. “We had to take shelter in a cabin to make sure that everything was okay. There was no way to contact you and we didn’t know whether it was safe or not.” She side-glanced Ward and he gave her a small smile. “We would’ve been back before now, but we just wanted to make sure everything was clear.”

“Then at least you’re safe. We can get going soon. Go get some rest and we can talk more later.”

Skye nodded and she walked off, Ward soon following. Coulson noticed Ward’s sickened expression and he gently grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Grant, is something wrong?” he asked softly. “Is everything okay?”

Ward nodded robotically, “Yeah.” he lied. “Everything’s okay. I’m just tired, that’s all.”

“Son, you can tell me if something is going on.”

“We’re both fine, sir. There’s, uh, nothing to worry about.” Guilt shone on Ward’s face and Coulson found that strange. But he shrugged it off.

“Then go get some rest with Skye, we’ll be taking off soon. Again, we’ll talk later.”

Ward walked off, tension in his shoulders. Coulson eyed him suspiciously as he ascended the stairs and went into the galley after Skye.

“Something’s wrong here, and I don’t like it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And whatever is truly wrong with Ward seems extremely bad. Let's just hope that it can be dealt with before it's too late. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	18. Watching all I Believed Fade Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And things are not so great on the Bus...

Ward found Skye in his bunk, the door closed and her changing clothes. He smiled at her as he quickly stepped inside and shut the door, “What? You can’t change in your bunk?” he asked.

“As far as I’m concerned, this is  _ our  _ bunk, Grant. You know that neither one of us is going to be sleeping alone.” she teased, sticking her tongue out at her. “You can’t resist me.”

With a scoff, Ward walked up and wrapped an arm around Skye’s torso right after she slipped a pajama shirt on, “You know I can’t.” he said in a quiet voice. “And bedtime so early?”

“Grant, it’s like eight. I’m exhausted and would like to sleep in our own bed.”

“I like how you use ‘our’.” Ward commented with a smirk. 

“What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine, right? If it wasn’t before, it’s sure as hell now.” She reached up to kiss Ward on the chin, “You’re not getting rid of me.”

“Hell, I’m just surprised that you didn’t steal one of my shirts.”

Skye raised an eyebrow, “Just wait, Wolfie. I’ll have them all one day.”

“You just like them because they smell like me.”

“Yeah, and they’re very comfy.”

Ward scoffed again and drew her close, “Good thing I love you, or I would be very annoyed.”

“You’re in an awfully good mood.” Skye noted, looking up at him. “Something’s going on, isn’t it?” she asked.

“What?” he asked with a frown, looking down to meet her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“You’re covering something up. I know it. You’re skirting around something by being awfully loving to me. Not that I mind it, it’s just that if there’s something wrong you need to tell me, babe.”

Ward took a breath and shook his head, “Fine, there is something wrong.” he admitted. “There’s no use hiding it from you. Coulson already suspects that something is wrong. He saw it in the way I moved and how I looked. He knows that something is wrong, he just doesn’t know what it is.”

“Grant, it’s going to come out eventually, whether you like it or not. You can’t hide the fact that you turned me. It’s going to come out. You need to find someway to tell him before it’s too late. If not, I will find a way. Hiding this is only going to hurt us. Grant, Coulson is your adoptive father, he’s your dad for God’s sakes. You don’t need to keep this from him.”

Ward shifted uncomfortably at Skye’s statement. He was still uncomfortable about calling Coulson ‘dad’. It was always ‘sir’ or ‘Coulson’, but never dad. Even though legally, Coulson  _ was  _ his father, Ward could just never bring it upon himself to call him so. He adverted his gaze from Skye.

“Can we talk about this tomorrow?” he asked in a quiet voice. “I’m not really up to it now and I’d rather sleep first.”

Skye sighed, “Fine. Get changed, I’m going to go brush my teeth and such.” Her mouth shifted into a sly smile, “Unless you want to join me in the bathroom, I don’t mind seeing you change.”

“Yeah, but what if Fitz walks in there and sees that?” Ward lowered his voice, “He’s too innocent to be seeing that.”

“What? It’s just you naked, it’s not like we’re doing it.”

“ _ Skye _ .” he stressed. “Please.”

Skye huffed, “Fine, Mr. Party Pooper. Excuse me for wanting to have a little fun.” She smirked at him before leaving him in the bunk.

Now, Ward knew that he was blushing profusely and he shook his head to clear it up before anyone could actually see it. He sighed and slid the bunk door shut and turned to where his clothes were. He started digging for a shirt, Skye wouldn't mind if he wore pants or not. Slipping off his shirt and pants, he slipped on the clean shirt and a pair of sweatpants he found just so he could go on into the galley.

He slipped out into the galley and headed towards the bathroom, finding Skye looking at herself in the mirror, and she was half-shifted.

“Skye, what are you doing?” Ward asked, shutting the bathroom door behind him. “Someone might see.”

Skye jumped and turned to look at him, her blue eyes sparkling in the light. “Oh, it's just you, Grant.” She smiled and her countenance returned to normal, “It's just that I'm still trying to get used to this, that's all.”

Ward approached her from behind and wrapped his muscular arms around her, “Yeah, but what if it wasn't me that walked in?”

“I really didn't think of that.”

He leaned in towards her ear, “Exactly.” he muttered. “Wait until we can find a way to tell them.”

“Stop trying to be so bossy.”

“I'm just trying to protect you, Skye.” he breathed. 

“Then you should've thought of that when you decided to bite me, then.” she said, pushing him away.

A hurt look formed on Ward's face, “Look, you know that,”

“Yeah, you're sorry.” she cut in. “But that doesn't help me. That doesn't help the fact that I'm now half-wolf.”

Ward shied away from her, “Skye, please. You know that I wasn't trying to hurt you.” Regret shone in his eyes, “I-I would never intentionally hurt you.”

“Grant,”

Without another word, Ward turned and left the bathroom, leaving Skye in silence. She immediately regretted her words, knowing that she had hurt him.  _ “Great. Now that really helps everything. _ ”

She quickly cleaned up and left the bathroom to return to her and Ward’s bunk to make sure that he was okay. Quietly, she slid the door open and slipped inside, closing the door behind her. Ward already laid in bed, his eyes closed. He didn’t acknowledge that Skye was in there with him.

“Hey,” Skye began. “You okay?”

Ward opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her, but didn’t say anything in response. A hurt look shown in his eyes, which only drove Skye down.

“Look, I’m sorry how I snapped at you back there. I,”

“There’s no need to apologize, Skye.” Ward cut in, sitting up. “I understand why you’re angry. I did something to you that is irreversible. I was reckless and foolish. It’s perfectly fine to be angry at me. Hell, I’m angry at myself for not trying to find a better way to save you. I understand how you feel towards me. I know that you’re hurt, angry, and maybe even betrayed.” He looked away, bunching up the covers in his hand in anxiety. “There’s no need to apologize.”

Skye shook her head and crossed her arms, “Look, I shouldn’t of have acted that way towards you. I,”

Ward raised an eyebrow, “Like I said, there’s no need to apologize. If anything, it’s my fault.” He laid back down and turned towards her, moving back the cover, “We can talk about this in the morning,” A slight smile formed on his face, “Get some sleep, you need it.”

Skye couldn’t but help to smile back at him and she blushed slightly as she realized that Ward was in nothing but his underwear, he had shed his shirt and pants. “Fine, we can talk about this tomorrow.” she replied sliding into the bed and nuzzling into Ward’s side. Ward readjusted the covers back over her and she turned towards him, giving him a kiss, “Night, Wolfie.”

He smiled, “Night.” He knew that he would have to figure out some kind of nickname for her, but now wasn’t the time. 

“Grant, you know that I still love you, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Skye turned back around, letting Ward drape his arm over her.

Ward breathed in the sweet scent of her hair, listening to the rhythmic workings of her lungs. Skye fell asleep in a matter of minutes in the safety of his arms, but outside talking kept Ward wide awake.

“I’m telling you, Coulson, something is going on between them!” he heard May exclaim from somewhere outside of the bunks. “Something’s not adding up here!”

“So they’re closer than they were before. So what?” Coulson asked. “I know that Grant hasn’t been quite up to par for the past while and that something’s bothering him, but I don’t see what you’re going on about.”

“Do you forget that we found Skye’s clothes all shredded and bloodied in that damn  _ massacre  _ that your ‘innocent kid’ caused?!” May went on, something in her voice throwing knives at Ward. “And those two come back and there’s not a single scratch on her. We thought she was  _ dead _ , Phil! And those two are acting like nothing ever happened! Something big is going on between them and you act like it’s no big deal!”

“Because I don’t like to make assumptions about Grant!” Coulson shot back. “That only makes things worse. You made us all think that he had gone wild and had killed Skye, you made us fear the worst. When assumptions are made about him, that only tends to drive him down. Yes, I see that something’s wrong. But I don’t want to go all head-first into this and only make it worse.”

“Phil, he’s your legal son for God’s sakes! You’re the one that chose to adopt him and get into this mess, now you’re trying to ignore it and act like nothing’s wrong with him when there clearly is something really, really wrong with him. You need to step up and act like the father you chose to be! You need to do something before this all ends up going to hell!”

“May, I don’t appreciate this. Not one bit. I told you, I don’t want to have my nose all in Grant’s business. But I am going to try and figure what the hell is going on here, I know that something happened with those two. I will figure it out my own way instead of getting into everything.”

“You know that I didn’t like the idea of him joining this team. But he has to follow you everywhere you go. Like a damn puppy. He’s a damned liability and a burden on all of us!. Someone’s going to get hurt before you know it and what are you going to do then? Act like nothing’s wrong with him? Wake up, Coulson. Ward’s not the same boy you picked up out of juvie, he’s turning into an animal. And sooner or later, he’s going to snap and kill someone close to us. He’s a  _ monster. _ ”

Ward heard Coulson hesitate, May had hit a sensitive spot with the man. “Don’t talk that way about Grant to me, May. That is not what he is, you know that. He would die before any of us got hurt.” He gulped before continuing, “He’s my son and I’ll make sure that nothing happens. I’ll prove you wrong about him.”

The rest of the conversation/argument was drowned out by the roaring of blood in Ward’s ear as his body began to tremble. Did May really mean all of that? The wolf was trying to fight its way out so it could retaliate, but now was a really, really bad time.  _ “No, please. Not here, not now. Not here, not now.” _ he repeated over and over in his head. “Don’t let this happen.” he whispered. 

As the blood continued to roar in his ears, he tightened his arm around Skye and buried his head deeper into her hair. He allowed the sweet smell and her presence to calm him, and he drifted off into a very, very uneasy sleep.

Nightmares of blood and howls that wasn’t his plagued him for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, May is starting to hate Ward and wants Coulson to do something with him before it's too late. And no one yet knows what really happened between Skye and Ward. None of this is good. Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Can I get some more comments please? They motivate me to write faster!)


	19. Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things within Ward's mind start to go downhill.

(A Few Hours Later)

Skye awoke abruptly to sharp, pained whines coming from beside her. She quickly realized that the noises were coming from Ward and she turned on the small light above them to see Ward tossing and turning in his sleep. A panic overcame her and she straight away started to shake him awake.

“Grant!” she said both as loudly and quietly as she could, shaking him. “Grant, please wake up!”

With a sharp and loud gasp, Ward bolted awake and shuffled back into the corner of the bed against the wall. He was visibly trembling and covered in a cold sweat. His eyes were glazed-over and small in terror.

“Grant, please! Calm down!” She moved closer to him. “It’s me, Grant! It’s Skye!” She ran a hand down his muscular to try and calm him down. “Shh. It’s okay. It’s okay. It was just a dream, whatever it was.”

Ward’s eyes darted to Skye and his face softened, “Skye?” he croaked. “Skye?”

She smiled at him, “Yes, Grant, it’s me.”

He shook his head and brought his knees to his chest, “I thought… I thought…” he trailed off and didn’t say anything else, he only stared at his knees and absently scratched at his growing beard.

“You thought what?”

A weak gaze landed on her shining with fear and sadness. “I thought you were gone.”

Skye’s face fell, “What do you mean?” she asked, still stroking his arm.

“I-I, I thought you were in my place. You had gone wild, feral.” he stammered, taking a shaky breath. “Y-You snapped and then that was it. You killed everyone and I couldn’t stop you. It was all my fault.” Skye could smell the fear pouring off of him. “And I couldn’t even stop you from getting to me. You… You killed me as well. What I think is happening to me happened to you.” He shook his head again and looked away from her. “I thought I lost you again.”

Skye blinked, realized just how traumatized Ward was because of the whole incident. He was afraid of the monster he was becoming and that was projecting onto his regret of turning her, creating some pretty nasty nightmares for him.

“Look, Grant, I’m here. I’m not gone. It was just a dream.” She scooted closer to him. “Everything’s okay.”

He looked and blinked at her, “Does everything just roll off your back?” he asked. “Everything’s going to hell and you act like nothing’s wrong.”

“I’ll deal with the problems when I come. There’s no use worrying, it only makes things worse.” She brushed aside some of his hair that stuck to his forehead with sweat. “Don’t get yourself so worked up. Please.”

He feigned a smile, trying to make himself appear better than he actually was. “I try, but that’s not in my nature, Skye. I get worked up because I’m meant to become violent. That’s my true nature.”

“I don’t believe that. That isn’t you. Remember, we’re going to talk about this in the morning, right?” she questioned. “Just go back to sleep, please.”

Ward nodded and shuffled back down into the sheets as Skye did as well. He let Skye nuzzled back into his side without another word and he went the rest of the night without another wink of sleep. There was just too much on his mind to do so.

 

* * *

 

(Sometime Later)

Ward stood stiffly in the corner of the Holocom room as the rest of the team talked about their current destination: a SHIELD base to where they could get more repairs to the Bus done. He grimaced as May casted seething glances at him and he let out a soft growl directed towards her. He then watched as Coulson then adjourned their little ‘meeting’ and everyone dispersed. May went to leave, but Ward blocked her way.

“What the fuck is your problem with me?” he growled, glaring down at her with crossed arms.

“What are you talking about?” she asked with a scowl.

“Like hell you don’t know.” Ward spat. “You act like I’m some kind of damned time bomb waiting to go off. I know that you hate me for some God-forsaken reason, but I don’t know what that is.”

“Look, I don’t have time,”

“We’ve got plenty of time. I heard you talking about me to Coulson last night, don’t think that I didn’t hear you guys. You called me a monster. Led the entire team to believe that I killed Skye. Why the fuck would you think that I did that?” he asked harshly. “I would never do such a thing. Never. I don’t appreciate that you think that I’m so unstable that I would kill the girl that I love. I don’t appreciate any of this.”

A muscle twitched in May’s face, “And this is exactly why I think that you’re unstable, Ward. You’ve been going down some kind of slippery slope lately that I know that you cannot return from. I see it. You’re becoming the very thing you hate.” She was blunt and to the point, something that dug a blade into Ward’s mind. “Everyone else is blind to it, but I’m not. You’re not human, Ward. And you never will be.

I never wanted you on this team, but you have to follow Coulson around everywhere like a damned dog. You’re a liability, and sooner or later you’re going to get someone hurt.”

Ward’s lips curled into a snarl and a bloodthirsty light shone in his eyes, but he remained silent. There was a visible shake in his body and red danced in his irises.

“I don’t want to be the person to put you down, but I will if I have to.”

He spun and stalked out of the room, not saying anything else to May. _“That bitch!”_ he thought. _“What gives her the fucking right to say that crap about me?! That’s not me! That’s not me!”_

Skye noticed him and came over to him, her calming aura not doing much for him, “Grant, what is going on?” she asked calmly.

“I told you that May hates me!” he spat. “She just flat out told me that I’m a monster. I have never done anything to her. Not one bit. I don’t understand why she hates me so.” His voice was low and gruff, rage spilling from it. It wouldn’t take much now for the wolf to show itself. And now wasn’t the time.

“Grant, you’ve got to calm down. I imagine that this can all be worked out in time. Things are just tough now. That’s,”

“Tough?! Tough?! It’s not even there yet, Skye! What’s going to happen the first time there’s an incident?” he asked, referring to the first time she would shift in front of the team. “What are you going to do then? Huh? Act like nothing’s wrong and let it breeze by? Listen, you won’t be able to then. Because everyone will be against you and you know it.” His lips curled into another snarl and revealed his now-showing fangs. He pointed a now-sharpened claw at her, “Not everything is perfect like you pretend it to be, Skye. Wake up, I’m a fucking wolf! I shouldn’t exist! That screws with everything and just makes things worse!”

“Grant, stop this before you do something that you regret.” Skye warned, seeing that everyone else had fled. Even Coulson. “This isn’t you.”

“And what if it is me? What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know!” she snapped back. “But now isn’t the time or place to be like this! You’ve got to calm down! We can talk once we get to the Requiem base!”

“I thought we were supposed to talk this morning!”

“I just didn’t have the time!”

“And you’re just going to push it off more and more until we just never talk about it.”

“Grant, since when is this about me?!”

“Since I decided to screw everything up!” Ward barked. “I live in constant fear that something’s going to happen to you because of what I did! You should know how I feel, Skye.” His voice softened, “I hate it when you act like nothing’s wrong, because you know that that is far from the truth.”

“Because maybe I like to have a bright outlook on things. Pretending that nothing’s wrong is better than constantly worrying. Stop being so damn pessimistic about things.”

Ward gave a small, sad laugh, “How can I be optimistic when I’m a literal monster? How?”

“Just lighten up. Find some way to loosen up. You’ve got to stop acting like there’s always someone waiting to kill you. Last night you were completely afraid, now you’re raging. I’m worried about you, Grant. You shouldn’t be changing moods this fast. Something’s wrong.”

“And what if it is?”

“Then we’ll find a way to deal with it.”

“And what if there is no way to deal with it?” Ward asked, his features now half-shifted. “I’m the Big, Bad Wolf and there’s nothing you can do to change it. And especially not now, not after what has happened. You know that.” He spread out his clawed hands out in front of him, “Things aren’t even at their worst yet, Skye. They’re only going to get worse, I know that. I can feel it.” Clenching his fist, Ward looked her straight in the eye, “Skye, I love you. I do. And I want to protect you. I already failed once and I know I’m going to fail again. I-I can’t protect you anymore.”

Skye’s face fell and a cold feeling seeped into the pit of her stomach. “I don’t know where you’re going with this.”

The half-wolf stared her down as the very wolf inside her itched to get out. A pathetic, feigned smile was plastered on his face and his red eyes drilled into hers.

“How can I protect you from myself?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you've got that. May hates Ward and suspects of the monster he's becoming and Ward knows that he can no longer protect Skye. There's no good in this chapter whatsoever. (And next chapter you get to see what happens when you keep a newborn wolf caged for too long.) Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	20. And The Wolves Among Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward starts to accept what he's becoming and hard truths come to light.

The next few hours to the Requiem base was in utter silence. No one said anything and everyone kept to themselves, even Ward kept away from Skye. He hid somewhere in the cargo area, with nothing but his thoughts to occupy him.

_ “What am I going to do when the time comes and I become the monster that I fear?”  _ he thought, sitting on the floor of a pitch-black closet.  _ “I can’t protect anyone. I can’t even protect her like that. They’ll have to kill me. There’s no other way. It’s funny how a protective nature can drive one to become the opposite of a protector, a killer. But aren’t I already a killer? I have little remorse for human lives anymore. But is that only a side-effect of what’s happening to me? Hell if I know.” _

Ward brought his knees to his chest and buried his head in them. That deep, gnawing hunger was starting to return. That was mainly why he kept from everyone else, but he just didn’t want to be seen by any of them. Even Skye. Shame hung over him after his little outburst at May and Skye. But didn’t May deserve that? She was the one that hated him for no reason other than the fact that he wasn’t human. 

_ “Liability my ass. Wait until it rips you to shreds and call me a liability then.”  _ There was a part of Ward that wanted to see May dead underneath his claws, but he tried to hide that thought. But he couldn’t hide the fact that he and the wolf were slowly melding into one being. Sometimes that was a good thing, in which the werewolf had complete and utter control. But others, not so much. The wolf took over and created a bloodthirsty monster fueled by the hunger for everything. And that mixed with the fact that the monster was becoming even stronger because of his protective instinct only made it worse.

_ “But I have heard of this before. Blood wolf. That’s what it’s called. An unstoppable monster that will kill until only it and its mate remains.”  _ A small laugh escaped his lips and he looked up to the darkened ceiling.  _ “Funny how things work in the end. But sometimes, I just want everything to die.” _

The laugh soon morphed into a warm growl and he stood to his feet. He raked his claws down the metal wall, a screeching noise emitting from the material. He seemingly had accepted his fate and became accepting of the monster he was to become. It didn’t matter to him anymore.

_ “I am the blood wolf and nothing will stand in my way. I will get what I want. Blood will fly, fangs will be beared. They will all see the strength of the wolf no matter if they want to or not. I am to be feared.” _

  
  


(Several Hours Later)

 

Skye and Ward settled into their temporary room at the Requiem base. It was going to take a few days for the Bus to be repaired, so they were going to make the most of it. But Skye knew the days weren’t going to go very well.

“Grant, where were you during the trip?” she asked, keeping her eyes on the clothes she was unpacking.

Ward stiffened up, “I was in the cargo bay, by myself. Needed some time to myself. That’s all.”

She stopped what she was doing and looked at him with a frown, “What did I tell you about isolating yourself?”

“That it’s ‘not good for me’.” he replied in a mocking tone. “What are you, my wife?”

“Practically. And what’s with the snarky tone? Are you okay?”

A growl rumbled deep within his chest and he cocked his head, “Never better. I don’t see why you’re so concerned.”

“Because you spent a few hours in isolation and you’re suddenly acting like you’re better than everyone. It’s like you changed or something in a short amount of time.” She walked closer to him, “You were an utter dick to May when we landed.”

Ward scoffed, “She deserved it though. She was the one that led everyone to believe that I killed you. Why the hell would she think that? Everyone knows that I would never hurt you.” He wrapped an arm around her torso and drew her close, “Maybe that gives me the right to be a dick to her. I don’t like her, so why should I have to act like I do?”

“Because I said so.” Skye replied, pulling away from him and poking his chest. “Don’t act like a total jerk, Grant. It’s good for no one. Or just ignore her. Keep to me or someone else. Just not her.”

“You see how everyone else looks at me. They fear me now. The truth of what I am turned them against me. Even Fitz can’t bear to look me in the eyes.” Ward looked down and away from Skye, “And I’m afraid that the same will happen to you. There will be hell to pay if they even lay one finger on you.”

“Grant, none of this is a good reason to start hating your friends!” Skye exclaimed. “And with you, that hate will transcribe into something far worse. They don’t hate you, they just only see you differently now.”

“And what are you going to say as soon as they start treating you the very same way? You’re going to change your mind once that happens. And then they’ll start hating me even more. They may even resort to  _ doing  _ something to me. I know that Coulson’s fearing the day he has to deal with me once and for all, and he knows that that time is soon.”

“All this hate is only fear, Grant! They don’t really hate you!”

“And that’s why I don’t like humans. The fear is what drives them to kill.” He gulped and slid off his shirt. “Look at my back, Skye. Tell me what you see.”

Skye frowned at him but did what he said as he turned his back to her. She had never really studied his back up close, but she now noticed massive jagged scars all over his back. At least five in number. She bit her lip and approached him, running her fingers down the lengths of the scars, “Where are these from?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“This is what happens when a human is afraid, Skye.” He turned to face her and a soft, pain-filled light shone in his eyes. “I told you that my family tried to kill me, mainly my older brother and my piece of shit father. My father was a hunter, he had a hunting knife. One that was used to get the skin off the kills. Thought that it could kill me.” He paused and swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat.

“He did it in my sleep while my older brother held me down. I woke up to blood everywhere and pain I could hardly stand. They tried to cut me open several times to kill me, but the wounds closed faster than they could do anything.” he continued. “But they scarred. Now they’re only reminders of my past.” His soft eyes looked up at her, “That’s why I don’t like humans, but the team is an exception. But it’s starting to be where they are just as bad.”

“Grant, not everyone is like your family.” Skye began, taking his hand. “Not everyone’s going to try and kill you. The team isn’t going to kill you. Coulson won’t let that happen. He’s your dad, he won’t let the others touch you.”

Ward swallowed and brought Skye close, “Can you promise me that?” he whispered. “Please?”

“Yes, I can. I promise that they won’t hurt you or me.” She looked up at him and ran a hand down the length of his bearded face. When the mood was better, she was going to try to get him to shave at least some. She didn’t know why he had let it grown out so much. But she did find it highly attractive.

“Now, get to bed. Everything will be better in the morning.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

But it wasn’t going to be better, it was going to be much, much worse.

  
  
  


(Several Hours Later)

 

It was either the absence of Skye in the bed or the blaring alarms that woke Ward, but both sent him into a frenzied panic. His eyes drifted to the shredded pile of pajamas on the floor beside the bed and that immediately gave him the answer to what the hell was going on. Skye had shifted, probably from a nightmare, and was loose in the base. How the hell hadn’t he sensed this sooner?

Ward quickly slipped his shirt and pants on and bolted out the room, nearly avoiding the rush of armed agents. Armed agents. Great, they were already retaliating against Skye.  _ “Oh shit, oh shit! Not today! Not like this! I can’t let them get to her and hurt her! They won’t know what to do with a shifted wolf!” _

He quickly picked up her scent and it was luckily not that far away from him. It must’ve most recently happened, which was a good thing. Maybe she hadn’t hurt anyone yet and he could still get her calmed down and back to human. He ran down the twisting halls of the Requiem base, following Skye’s scent as it grew stronger and stronger. And he could hear distinct exclamations: 

“I thought Ward was the only wolf in SHIELD?!” That was Fitz.

“Yeah, that sure as hell isn’t him!” Triplett.

“Stay back and I’ll get this under control!” Coulson.

“Just because you raised a werewolf for several years doesn’t mean you can control another one!”

Ward bolted into the clearing and found the team cornered by wolf-Skye. He could mainly sense confusion and fear coming from her, only a little bit of hate. She was just scared, nothing else. All the chaos wasn’t helping one bit, only making her much more scared. He ran between them and her.

“Stop! Don’t do anything!” he screamed. He looked back at Skye, nodding slowly at her. The fearful look in her blue eyes was soon replaced by a calm and understanding one. She knew that Ward would deal with this.

“Grant, get away from it!” Coulson exclaimed. “Before it hurts you!”

Ward looked at Coulson with a bewildered look, “Why the hell would you think that she would hurt me?” he asked, bare feet shuffling on the concrete floor. “Why?”

“Grant, we don’t even,” Coulson paused and his face fell. “Wait, did you say  _ she _ ?” he asked.

Ward nodded slowly, “Yeah, and you’re not going to touch her.”

“And why’s that?” Triplett asked, eyes shifting uneasily from Ward to Skye and back. “Ward, who is that?”

He gulped and looked at Skye, she only blinked in response. He looked back to the team, “It’s Skye.”

“ _ What _ ?”

He stepped more between the team and Skye, “This… This is Skye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the team finally finds out. And I don't know why I made this version of Ward such an asshole, I guess it's the wolf talking and not him. And things are now going to start to go downhill from here. Y'all better buckle up. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	21. Bow Down to the Blood Wolf (Before He Kills)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward explains what happened, but subsequently flips out and reveals that he's not really himself.

You could hear a pin drop as soon as the statement escaped Ward’s lips. The team went silent and their eyes kept switching from Skye to Ward and then back again, over and over. They were trying to comprehend just how something like this could happen.

“Grant, what do you mean that that’s Skye?” Coulson asked slowly, no anger in his voice. He wasn’t angry yet, he just wanted to know what was going on. “Son, what’s going on?”

“I told you. This is Skye.” Ward repeated, getting closer to the wolf-Skye. He could sense her fear growing, and that was far from a good thing. “And none of you are going to lay a single finger on her.”

“How is this possible, Grant?” Coulson continued in his low and calm voice, but Ward could tell that there was anger and fear behind his words. “How did this happen?”

“I fucked up, big time.” he replied, eying the team warily. “It was my mistake that got her here and it’s my mistake that will get her hurt.” His words were low and harsh, his hidden hostility seeping out with each spoken sound. This was one of the signs of his changing attitude towards the team, a sign of what he was becoming. 

Coulson’s face fell as he realized what Ward’s ‘big mistake’ was. He turned to the team, “Go, leave us alone.” he said quietly, trying his best to not let Ward hear.

“No, they stay. If the truth is going to come out, they should all be here to hear it.” Ward snapped, crossing his arms. “The more the merrier, right?” Hostility shown in his eyes, “Or the more to kill me once everything’s said and done.”

Choosing to ignore Ward’s last sentence, Coulson nodded and turned back to him, “I think I know what happened here, Grant. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together.” His eyes drifted over to the changed Skye, a soft expression on his face. He looked back to Ward, “Something happened when those assailants attacked, didn’t it?” he asked. 

Ward didn’t respond, a seething look was Coulson’s only answer. But he could’ve sworn that there was fear somewhere in his adopted son’s eyes.

“Grant, I’m not mad at you. I just want to know what happened. We still don’t know what truly happened that day because you two refused to say anything about it. I know what Skye said was far from the truth. We found her clothes torn and bloodied in that massacre, that’s why we started to believe that you truly lost it and had killed her. We didn’t know what to really think.” Coulson looked back to Skye, “This is what happened, didn’t it?” he asked softly.

Ward blinked and then nodded slowly, “I told you, I fucked up. S-She got shot by one of those men.” he stammered, sinking to the ground and burying his head in his hands. “There was too much blood and I freaked out. Couldn’t think straight. Couldn’t think of another way to save her. There was no way to contact anyone and she would’ve probably died before anyone could’ve helped.

Instinct took over and… And…” he trailed off and shook his head. When he looked back up to the team, red sparked in his eyes. “I bit her.” he continued in a small and scared voice. “Didn’t think past it saving her. Didn’t think that it would actually  _ turn  _ her. It’s my fucking mistake and nothing can take it back!”

Coulson stepped back as the sudden rage took hold in Ward’s voice, “Ward, just calm down and we can sort this out.” He didn’t say Grant, that was a first. He had called him Grant for years, now he wasn’t. “Calm down and we can get this back all together.”

Ward slowly rose to his feet, head down as he did so, “How the hell do you plan on doing that?” he asked, voice hard. “I smell the abhorrence just coming off in waves from you all.” He kept his head down, “You all now see the monster I am capable of being. I turned Skye just because I was selfish and didn’t want to lose her. It’s funny how things work, one wrong move and everyone hates you. Even the people you thought to be your friends.”

“Grant,” Coulson warned, back to using his first name to try to calm him down. “We don’t,”

“You all fucking hate me.” Ward hissed, still keeping his head down. There was a visible tremor in his body and Skye whined to try and get his attention, but it didn’t work. “You all think me as a monster that should be killed. You all thought that from the very first time you saw that ‘wolf’ shift back into me. Humanity’s a fucking joke. If they’re afraid of something, they automatically hate it. Do you know what that hate transcribes into?”

The team remained silent and only exchanged nervous glances with one another.

“It leads to things like your very own family trying to have you killed. Your older brother holding you down as your father tries to cut you apart with a hunting knife.” he growled. “That’s why I tried to kill them in a fire.” He looked up at them, his countenance already shifted. His lips curled into a sneer over his fangs, “I don’t like humans, never did. You guys were an exception, until now. If you try to lay even one fucking finger on Skye, I’ll rip you all apart until there’s nothing left of you. So stay the hell away from us.” He glared at Coulson, “And that even means you.”

With a growl, Ward spun around and started to stalk away, “Come on, Skye.” he hissed. “Get away from them.”

Skye remained in place for a moment, a sharp and sad whine coming from her. She was confused to why Ward was suddenly acting this way. She knew that there was something horribly wrong with him, but she knew that she needed to go with him. Maybe she could figure out what was happening.

“ _ Skye _ .” Ward growled.

She looked back at the team and whined before heading off with Ward and leaving the team in utter shock and fear.

“What the hell was that?” Triplett croaked out, fear in his eyes. “What was his problem?”

“He’s never hated us until now and w-we haven’t even done anything to him.” Fitz stated. “I don’t understand what’s going on. I see he changed Skye to s-save her, but why was he like that?”

“Coulson, I told you that there is something wrong with him and if you didn’t see it before, you saw it now.” May said with warning in her voice. “Something is very wrong with him.”

Coulson shook his head over and over, “That wasn’t him, May. That wasn’t Grant. That was something else. That wasn’t my son.” His eyes were glazed over and he shook his head again, “Something else has got him. That wasn't Grant. That was the wolf talking. Or something far worse."

* * *

  
  


As soon as Skye had returned to human and had some clothes on, she sent a hand flying across Ward’s cheek. “What the hell was that, Grant?!” she exclaimed. “Why are you suddenly so against the team? They’ve never done anything wrong to you or to me!”

Hatred flamed in Ward’s eyed and he growled at her, “You saw the way they all looked at me. You smelled the hate. They hate me and they’ll be more than willing to kill me when they have the chance. They think me a monster and nothing else.” he growled. “They’ll either hurt me or you, and I cannot let that happen. I can’t let anything else happen to you.”

“And how is this protecting me, Grant?” Skye asked. “Be honest, how is disowning our very own friends and your adoptive father going to protect me?”

Ward’s face softened and he approached Skye, placing his hands on her shoulders, “Skye, you know that I love you and I will let absolutely nothing hurt you.” His voice was now calm and soft, in stark contrast to what she had seen earlier. “But we cannot mix with them anymore, that will only get one of us hurt. We’re not meant to intermingle with humans.”

“Are you telling me to abandon the only friends I have?”

“Until we can figure something else out. I saw the hatred in their eyes. They won’t hesitate to do something against us now. They probably think that I’m far from what I once was now, something that deserves to be locked away or killed. Do you want that?”

“Grant, you know that I don’t want anything happening to you, but I don’t want to abandon the only friends I have.”   
Ward’s grip tightened on her shoulders, “Skye, I don’t want you getting hurt. You’re going to have to be willing to sacrifice things now in order to survive. Wolves are survivors, not companions. The only ones we deal with our own packs, and we don’t even have that. We’re on our own now.”

“Grant,”

Ward bent down, his beard tickling her face as he whispered in her ear, “Just trust me, babe. Everything will be better soon and you won’t regret staying with me.” He nipped her ear and drew her close, “I love you.”

Fear churned in Skye’s stomach as she wrapped her arms around her ‘mate’. She knew that this really wasn’t the man she loved, but she needed to fall in line with what he said so she could figure out what was going on. “Yeah, sure.” she mumbled. “Sure you do.”

“What was that?” Ward asked, voice soft in her ear.

“I love you too.”

But Skye wasn’t even sure if those words actually meant anything anymore. The man standing before her wasn’t her mate.

This wasn’t Grant Ward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the being known as the 'Blood Wolf' takes hold. Remember, in this story, that is something that stems from a wolf becoming too protective of its mate and starts to see everything but their mate as a threat. And that translates into the sheer rage and utter hatred towards everyone, which is the wolf wanting to kill them. (Hence 'Blood' Wolf.) Can they actually find a way to bring the real Ward back? Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	22. I Hate This Monster You're Becoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward continues to convince Skye that SHIELD no longer matters and a flashback to his childhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: There are scenes of child abuse in here, so be warned.

(Sometime That Night)

Skye laid with her back to Ward, thoughts keeping her from sleeping. There was just way too much on her mind for her to even close her eyes. The man that laid next to her in the bed wasn’t even the man she had fallen in love with. Grant Ward was turning into someone far from recognizable with every waking moment. There was part of her that believed that he still _did_ love her, but in his own twisted and horrible way.

He claimed that everyone was out to get them, that everyone was a threat and that she should only be with him. The insane hatred he felt for every human was just that, insane. It didn’t make any sense to her whatsoever.  She knew that something was happening, so she only chose to stay with him just so that she could figure out what was going on with. She wasn’t even sure if she could love this man that claimed to be her mate anymore. This wasn’t the man she fell in love with, this was someone far more twisted and bloodthirsty.

She held her breath as she felt the mattress shift with Ward’s heavy weight and then she felt a warm presence right up against her.

“Can’t sleep, babe?” Ward breathed right into her ear, rubbing his bearded chin against the side of her face.

“Yeah, and you know that I don’t like it when you rub your beard up against me like that, Grant.” Skye replied, turning over and seeing Ward looming right over her, a warm, yet menacing, smile on his face. “It itches.”

Ward scoffed and sunk back down onto the mattress, drawing her close. He didn’t even notice Skye flinch as he did so. “I know you secretly like it, babe.” he whispered into her ear.

“No, I’m saying you need to shave.”

“You’re still mad about earlier, aren’t you?” he asked, his voice low and husky. “I don’t like it when you’re mad.”

“Of course I’m still mad, Grant. You flat out cussed-out the only family we have and then told me that we could no longer associate with them anymore. So of course I’m going to be angry, you’re telling me to leave behind everything that I know.”

“They’re not our family anymore, Skye. Family doesn’t hate. They hate us. They fear us. I’m going to try my best to get the both of us out of here and get you somewhere safe.” Ward tightened his hold on Skye and drew her even closer, “You know that I only want the best for you, babe.” he whispered. “And staying with SHIELD is not the best thing for you.”

“What if it’s not what I want?”

“Sometimes you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice what you care about in order to survive. I told you. Wolves are survivors, not companions. If they wanted a damned companion, they should’ve recruited someone that was half-dog and not half-wolf.” There was a growl mixed in with his voice, and Skye knew that she shouldn’t keep on going like this. Sooner or later, he would turn on her. And she didn’t need that right now, she needed to figure out what was going on with her mate.

Skye breathed in sharply, “Let’s just talk about this in the morning, I am in no mood for this right now.”

“Or you just don’t want to talk about this period.” Ward stated briskly. “You know the truth, Skye. SHIELD isn’t our family anymore. I’m the only family you have now and the only family you will ever have. I am your pack. Your pack is your family. Maybe we can let it grow eventually, but that cannot involve humans. Especially SHIELD.” He touched his forehead to hers, “I don’t want anything happening to you, so we have to make sacrifices. I know that you’re the one and only thing that I love.”

Skye bit her lip and looked off to the side, despite Ward practically holding onto her for dear life. He didn’t want her going anywhere. “I love you too, Grant. It’s just that….” she trailed off.

“It’s just what?”

“Nothing, just go to sleep. We’ll talk about this in the morning.”

She heard Ward sigh in contempt and he then snuggled in closer to her, “Fine. I love you.” he whispered. “And I will not let anything ever happen to you again.”

“Yeah, I guess.” she muttered, almost to the point of not even saying it at all. She laid there uncomfortably in Ward’s arms as he eventually drifted off to sleep, his powerful lungs no longer creating that rhythmic sound that she once loved.

She couldn’t love this man as he was. He was no longer Grant Ward, this was the wolf in the man’s skin.

 

* * *

 

 

_“You little fuck!” Mother roared, glaring down at Grant as he cowered over the floor, nursing a wound on his cheek. “What the hell did I say about that vase?! It’s priceless, now it’s a million shards because of you!”_

_“I told you I’m sorry, Mother!” Grant cried. He was no older than thirteen, still practically a child. He was tall and very muscular for his size, always the strongest and fastest in his class. But he still had the mind of a child, he was childish and always loved to play with his younger brother and sister._

_“It was an accident, I swear! Tommy and I were playing a-and I accidently bumped into it. I swear! I swear, Mother!” he cried. “Please believe me!”_

_Christian sneered at him and turned to Mother, “No, he’s lying. I saw it all. He picked it up and threw it to the ground in spite. He did it on purpose.”_

_Mother snarled and pulled Grant to his feet, “What the fuck did I say about my valuables, Grant?!” she growled, pulling him towards the stairs. “You don’t fucking touch them.”_

_“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I said I was an accident! I swear, I swear! Please believe me!” Grant continued to cry, tears streaming down his face and his eyes bloodshot. Mother only continued to drag him towards the stairs and Grant realized that she didn’t care what he said. He was still going to get his punishment, no matter how violent it was. “Help me, please!” he cried. “Help!”_

_“No one’s going to help your sorry little ass.” Mother sneered. “Your father’s in one of his moods, Thomas is locked in his room, and Rose isn’t even in the house. Who the hell do you think will help you? It’s sure as hell isn’t going to be me or Christian.” She pushed him to the top step, “And you’re going to see what bad children get, Grant. They get punished.”_

_The world went spinning as she pushed him down the stairs. Step after step, he tumbled down and down the massive staircase. Bones and such crunched and cracked as he went. And then there was the building pressure in his chest. A gnawing hunger he had never felt before._

_He finally landed on the tile floor below, his head hitting it with a resonating crack and everything started to dance in his vision. And that pressure started to grow. That hunger and that anger started to take hold. A growl ripped from his chest as he could hear Mother stalking down the stairs. His body was trembling and he felt something else coming through._

_“How the hell are you still awake?!” she snarled. “No wonder you’re not normal, you little freak.”_

_“Get away from me!” he screamed, holding his head as the tremors violently grew. “I hate you! I hate you!”_

_“Such bold words for a little boy.” she sneered, halfway down the stairs. She didn’t realize of the danger she was in._

_“Get the hell away from me!” he growled, his voice literally a growl. He looked down to his shaky hands to see that he now had claws. Wait, claws? But that didn’t matter at the moment. He started clawing at the floor as more violent tremors went through his body. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”_

_Mother stopped at the first landing, freezing in place as she saw her son writhing on the tile floor. She remained silent and frozen. Just what the hell was going on? Something seemed wrong, very wrong. “Grant?”_

_“What did I say?! Get away from me!” His head shot up and he glared at her, a growl emitting from his chest. A wolf-like growl._

_Mother backed up and tripped over the stairs. Her son’s eyes were blood-red and he had grown razor-sharp fangs. One word floated in the back of her mind: wolf. Her son was some kind of monster. Her eyes widened as Grant suddenly screamed out, his back arching back as he began to change._

_His clothes started to rip and shred as his limbs shifted, cracked, and grew into non-human ones. Fur as black as the night grew from his skin and his nose and mouth elongated into a snout. A long, bushy tail grew from his tailbone and razor-sharp claws sliced at the air._

_She slowly started crawling backwards up the stairs as her son was no more. Some kind of wolf monster had taken his place. It was over six feet tall and heavily muscular. A bloodlust-filled light shone from its eyes and its lips were curled into a snarl over massive, gleaming white fangs._

_It slowly started its way up the stairs on all fours, stalking its way as it sniffed the air. Guttural grunts echoed from its chest as its claws sliced up the wooden stairway. Christian spun around and ran, probably to get Father and one of Father’s shotguns._

_The wolf monster cornered Mother and loomed over her, its blood-red eyes drilling into her own fear-filled ones. “Grant?” she muttered. “Grant?”_

_It only snapped and barked at her, pinning her arms down with its clawed hands. Blackness overtook her as its fangs slowly approached her face and a shotgun rang out from somewhere behind her._

* * *

 

Ward awoke with a start, his last memory seeing Father taking aim at him with a shotgun. He sat up and drug his hands down his bearded face. _“Shit, not that dream again. Can I just stop reliving that day?”_

He groaned and hung his head low, hatred brewing deep in his chest. _“Humans are all like that. Violent when they hate something. It’s just not my family, it’s all humans. I hate them. I want them all dead. I don’t want anyone touching Skye.”_

His eyes drifted over to Skye’s sleeping form beside him and he shakily reached out and started to stroke her hair. He loved the feel of her soft, brown hair underneath his fingertips, it calmed him and made him feel better. He continued to stroke her hair as he leaned his head up against the headboard of the bed. “Don’t worry, Skye.” he whispered. “I won’t let anything hurt you. I won’t let anyone touch you. And if they do, I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a little view at what cause Ward to originally shift in his childhood, no matter how violent it was. And Ward still continues to persuade Skye that everything he is saying is the truth. And she's only staying with him so she can figure out what's wrong with him. But it's only a matter of time before everything gets worse, just a warning. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	23. The Monster Coming Through the Window

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson's accepted that he will sooner or later have to take Ward down. And Ward's officially nuts.

Coulson sighed, leaning back in his office chair while listening to the distant cranks of SHIELD mechanics working on the Bus. He had taken refuge here in order to get away from the tense situation that was happening inside. Something horribly wrong was going on with Ward, and he hated to figure out just what that was. He closed his eyes, still listening to the clanks.

“I knew I would find you in here.”

Coulson looked up to see May coming into his office, a frown on her face. “May, is there something going on?” he asked, leaning forward.

She shook her head, coming to stand in front of the desk, “No more than usual. Ward's still got Skye somewhere and refuses to come out and is hostile to anyone that approaches. Phil, this has been happening the past few days. Ever since the two of them got back to the base.” She crossed her arms, “Ward's not Ward anymore.” 

“I already figured that out, unfortunately.”

“You did?”

Coulson nodded, “He's my son, May. I can tell that isn't him. I'm afraid to say that that's the wolf talking. He's acting like how he does when he snaps, when the wolf comes out. Grant is not in control of that body. The wolf is. It's got all of his feelings towards Skye, but all the hatred it has towards humans. It's a complete monster.”

May raised an eyebrow, “Then what are you going to do?” she asked. “This is only going to get worse, it's not going to get better.”

“And that's what I'm afraid of.” Coulson sighed, opening a drawer in his desk. He pulled out a medium-sized wooden box and placed it out in front of him.

“What's that?”

Coulson opened the box and pulled out a silver revolver, “Silver bullets. One of the only things that can take someone like Grant down. Had it made several years back just for incidents like this. If this continues to get worse,”

“Then you'll kill him.”

“Yes, as much as I hate to do that. But I keep thinking that Grant's too far gone. I need to put a stop to this before it goes any further. He's becoming too possessive of Skye and way too violent and hostile towards us. Sooner or later a massacre will happen, and I need to stop that.”

“But you're seriously willing to put a bullet through his heart?”

“I've told him time and time again if it ever gets to a point like this, I will take him down. He knows what will happen. As for the wolf? No. That man isn't Grant, that's the wolf.

He's becoming the very thing he hates and he doesn't even realize it. That's the sad thing. I hate to see him like this.” he paused and took a sharp breath, running his hands through his hair. “And I'm afraid that it's too late to even get him back.”

May gulped slightly, “What about Skye?” she asked. “I know she's uncomfortable in her current situation. But we can't even pry her away from Ward along enough. He's got a tight grasp on her. And if we break that,”

“Then he snaps and then probably becomes an even worse monster that what he's currently capable of being.” He turned the revolver over in his hand. “Which we don't need. I hate to have to resort to this, but I fear it's the only way. He's becoming too protective, too violent. Sooner or later, he'll explode.”

“And what do you think will happen then?”

“Then we're all goners, May. He'll…. He'll kill us all just because he can't bear for anyone else to be around Skye. He believes that everyone human is out to get him, that we're all threats. And he'll kill to get rid of what he sees to be threats. Which, of fact, means us.”

“Phil, are you sure that you can do this?”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to whether I like it or not, May. I should’ve heeded your warnings back when Grant started to go downhill. And perhaps he would be himself right now and Skye would be human.” Coulson responded, putting the revolver away. “I sometimes miss the days where he was just a boy and I was trying to put him back together.”

“You know that you’re never going to get those days back, right?”

"Yeah, I know. I know. It just doesn’t hurt to reminisce every now and then.”

* * *

 

_ “Grant Ward?” _

_ Coulson watched as a young teen lifted his head up and directed his gaze towards him. The kid was no more that fifteen years old and already had a hell of a lot of muscle on him. He was surrounded by guards, this was juvie after all. _

_ He walked towards the kid and sat down on the bench in front of him. He nodded at the guards, “I’ve got it from here.” _

_ “You sure?” one of them asked. “He’s, uh, prone to outbursts of anger.” _

_ Coulson looked back to the teen in front of him and smiled, “I think we’re okay. And besides, I think this talk will be better with just the two of us.” _

_ “Well, we’ll be right outside if you need us.” Coulson nodded at the guards as they left them in the room. _

_ The kid was the first to speak. “Who are you?” he croaked, studying the strange man in front of him with glazed-over brown eyes. Shaggy black hair hung down onto his forehead and sharp, chiseled cheekbones shone on his face.  _

_ Coulson extended a tentative hand out towards the young boy, “I’m Agent Phil Coulson.” _

_ Grant took the man’s hand gingerly and shook it, “Agent?” he asked. “You work for the government?” _

_ “Well, yes and no. I work for the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division.” Coulson replied.  _

_ Grant frowned, “That’s a long name.” he commented. “And I’ve never heard of you.” _

_ “That’s the idea.” _

_ “Then you work for a secret agency then?” _

_ Coulson smiled, this kid was smart. “You could say that.” He set a file out between the two of them and opened it. “We got word of a promising young cadet at a military school with outstanding hand-to-eye coordination, fighting skills, strength, and speed.” _

_ “Then they left of the part about me running away then.” _

_ “No, I, uh, know of your record, Grant.” Coulson said softly. “That’s something that we can’t overlook. Running away from a top military school and then making it all the way back to Massachusetts by yourself isn’t a small feat. Then there’s the matter of the arson.” _

_ “I didn’t know that Christian was inside.” Grant stated, avoiding Coulson’s gaze. _

_ “Son, I just want to know why.” _

_ “I don’t like my family. They’re bad people. There’s something wrong with me and they hate me for it. My younger siblings are the only ones I care about, sir. I was angry with them, wanted them to die. But I really didn’t want them to die. I don’t know what it was.” _

_ “Rage then. Your records show that you’ve got quite the temper. You’re prone to rage fits.” Coulson continued, looking at the file. The file also noted that the kid wasn’t normal, inhuman almost. But no one could ever figure out what it was. Tests showed that there was something not human in his blood, but could never pinpoint to exactly what it was. The kid had already been marked as a gifted just because of his fighting abilities and inhuman status. But Coulson knew that there was way more to this kid than just that. There was an animalistic light in the boy’s eyes. _

_ Grant shrugged, “I don’t know, I can’t really remember all that much, sir.” he responded. _

_ “You know that your parents want to try you as an adult. The arson alone can get you several years in prison. But there’s also a charge of attempted murder. If this goes through, you’re going to be locked up for a very long time, son.” _

_ Grant shifted uncomfortably, “Where are you going with this?” he asked. _

_ Coulson leaned forward, “I’m offering you a choice. One where you don’t have to be locked up forever and the charges can be dropped. You’re a promising recruit, you have the ability to be an amazing agent.” _

_ “You’re recruiting me then?” _

_ “You can say that. But unfortunately, the Academy doesn’t take in cadets younger than eighteen. You’re only fifteen.” _

_ “So I’m going to rot in juvie for three years?” _

_ “No, you’re still underage. We can find you someone caring and kind enough to take care of you until you are of age.” Coulson continued, not taking his eyes off the young boy. “Someone who can get you through the rest of your schooling and make sure you train those abilities of yours.” _

_ Grant scratched at his head, “And this means I don’t have to be charged?” he asked. _

_ Coulson nodded, “All you have to do is agree to come with me. Grant, I promise you that this is nothing fishy. I’m not trying to mislead you, I just want to help you. We can work to get you into our custody.” _

_ “Does that mean I never have to see my parents again?” _

_ “Yes, if you’re so sure of cutting ties with them.” _

_ A slight smile formed on the boy’s face and he nodded slightly, “I-I guess this all sounds good.” he stammered. “As long as I’m away from here. Please, I’ve got nowhere else to go.” _

* * *

  
  


Ward stalked the hallways of the Requiem base, trying to find Skye. He had woken up that morning to find her gone and it shook him entirely the wrong way. Why would she run like that? A part of him thought that she was just with the others, which he didn’t like. And the other part of him thought that she had totally abandoned him. Which he didn’t like either.

At least no one, other than the team, here knew what he was. He could go around without anyone trying anything against him. That insane paranoia that came with the growing wolf set him on edge against everyone else that wasn’t him or Skye. At this point, he was no longer Grant Ward. The wolf, the Blood Wolf, had taken control. He was just a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

This wolf only wanted one thing, and that was his mate. Nothing else mattered to him other than her. Ward’s protective instinct had been twisted into something far more corrupt than what it should be. And that had turned into the cursed Blood Wolf.

Now, it was a rare phenomenon for this wolf to spawn, but it was probably Ward’s already highly-unstable nature that had contributed to it. This wolf ate the human part up, piece by piece, until only it remained. It was a truly corrupt and bloodthirsty monster. This was the monster that everyone feared Ward to be. Maybe it was karma, the ridicule finally coming back to bite them all in the ass, or maybe it was just coincidental. 

But no one could stop this wolf. The only way was to kill him, there was no way to get Grant Ward back. And he would kill and kill until he was stopped. These kills were in his mind righteous, he viewed them as necessary to keep him and Skye safe. Perhaps he didn’t even view himself as the bad guy here. In his own screwed-up mind, he was the hero trying to protect the love of his life. His hatred had made him despise all that wasn’t like him, even the team. He just didn’t give a damn anymore.

Ward continued to stalk down the hallway until a young, and unknown, agent ran into him. He growled at the young man, which had backed up and was holding his hands up. 

“Whoops. Sorry, didn’t see where I was going.” the man tried to apologize.

Ward’s lips curled into a snarl, “How about keep your eyes on the fucking road so you don’t run into me?” he growled. 

Before the agent could react, Ward had him pinned up against the wall. The young agent was too afraid to even scream, eyes widening in terror as red swirled in Ward’s irises and long, sharp fangs grew from his mouth. He tried to squirm away, but Ward took a now-clawed hand and shot it through the man’s arm, nailing him to the wall. The agent screamed out in pain and Ward winced.

“Now, we don’t need to do that now, do we?” he growled. “Humans are so fucking pathetic, can’t even stand a little bit of pain.”

The agent started to fumble for the gun at his side, but Ward snapped and clawed at his face. “Don’t even dare.” he hissed, jabbing his claws into the man’s eyes and ripping back. He smiled as the agent screamed and blood spurted into the air. Then he threw the agent to the ground.

The agent continued to scream as Ward cracked his neck and suddenly shifted into the wolf. He grabbed the agent by his leg and started to drag him down the hallway, leaving a trail of dark blood as they went. He dragged him into a dark closet, figuring the corpse would never be found here, and started to rip and tear at the man, both with claws and teeth. And he enjoyed every bit of it.

After several minutes, Ward came out, back to human and with a blanket wrapped around him. A smug smile was on his face as he hurried back to his and Skye’s room.

_ “Humans are so fucking pathetic. They fall apart and bleed like paper. I love it.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I didn't intend on that end scene being there, it just happened. But it goes to show that Ward's not Ward anymore and the wolf has him in its grasp. And I will start doing more of those flashback scenes to show what happened with Ward as he grew up. And we are getting closer to the climax, which is very, very dark. There's a warning there. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	24. This Animal I Have Become

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye finally confronts Ward about what he has become, and he does not take it well.

(Sometime Later)

Skye roamed the halls of the Requiem base, trying to find Ward. He had gone missing some time ago and she was already regretting even taking her eyes off of him. But where would’ve he had gone? This didn’t make sense, he was always glued to her side.

 For him to gone like this was foreboding to Skye and she knew that she needed to find him soon before something happened. But she already had the aching feeling that something had already happened. And she hated when she ended up being right like this.

She first picked up the scent somewhere in the abandoned part of the base, the part where hardly anyone went. The scent of blood was fresh and strong, which made her sensitive nose itch. She ignored the fact that it pulled at something in her stomach. Turning her nose to the air, Skye followed the scent trail until the trail actually became visible.

It was a darkened hallway, she couldn’t see all that much. At least her heightened vision gave her some more leeway. Her stomach churned as she saw the blood that stained the concrete floor, leading all the way to a closet area. Blood stained the wall from which the trail began. It looked as someone had been attacked there and then had been dragged all the way to the closet, which was several feet away.

Skye cautiously and slowly followed the trail to the closed closet door, which had several massive gauge marks on it. Her stomach churned again. Claw marks. She slowly opened the door and that’s when it hit her square in the chest: The stench of death.

She gulped and flipped on the light, her hand immediately going to her mouth as the gory scene came into a view. An agent, she assumed male, laid on the floor in a pool of his own blood. He was completely mauled and mangled past the point of any recognition. She had seen this type of kill before, when Ward had gone ballistic on those soldiers. This was Ward’s handiwork.

Stumbling back, Skye could hardly keep herself up. Ward had killed an innocent man. She didn’t know the reasoning behind it, but she knew that it wasn’t a good one. There seemed to be no reason at all, there couldn’t be a reason at all. She ran out of the room and slammed the door, leaning up against it as she began to hyperventilate. And she could feel her own wolf crawling beneath her skin.

“Oh my God.” she breathed. “Grant’s really gone. That isn’t him. That isn’t him.”

Skye tried to leave the scene as fast as she could, but froze as she heard Ward’s, or whoever he really was, voice calling out for her:

“Skye?” he called. “Is that you?”

She gulped and turned the corner to practically run into him. He met her with a calm and warm smile, and she couldn’t help but to smile back despite her newfound fear of him. She reminded herself that this wasn’t her Grant.

“Where were you?” he asked softly, placing his hands on her shoulders. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Skye shrugged, “Hell, I was looking for you.” she replied, flinching as Ward spun her around and began to lead her back to their room. “I should be asking you the very same question.”

He scoffed, “Just taking a walk, that’s all.”

The agent’s blood could be smelled on him. It was heavy and lingering. A reminder of what Ward really was now: An unstoppable monster that didn’t care about anyone else. He claimed that he loved Skye, but did he really? She couldn’t bring herself to think about that.

Skye didn’t respond as Ward led her back into their room and shut the door behind them. He frowned as he turned back to her, “Why are you so quiet?” he asked. “This isn’t like you at all. What’s wrong?”

“Are you okay?”

Ward’s face fell, “Me? You think that there’s something wrong with me?”

“Grant, you haven’t been acting right the past several days, ever since we got back to the team and you snapped at them. You’ve… You’re not even the same person anymore.”

His face hardened, hostility growing in his eyes, “What the hell do you mean?” he asked. “What are you saying about me?”

“I found the body, Grant!” Skye snapped, crossing her arms and stepping away from him.

“What body?”

“I smell the blood on you, you can’t fool me! I saw the blood and I saw the ripped apart body. That could only be your handiwork, but I know that my Grant would never do something like that. What the hell was that?”

“He got in my way. I taught him a lesson.” Ward growled.

“You killed an innocent man!”

“I don’t fucking care about him! Remember what I said about everyone else?!”

“He was an innocent man! Something is wrong with you, Grant. I don’t even recognize you anymore.” Skye gulped and shook her head, “Who are you?” she asked.

Ward feigned a smile and approached her, “Skye, what are you talking about?” he asked softly. “Of course you know who I am. I’m your mate for God’s sakes.”

“Are you?” Skye asked, backing away again. “Like I said, I don’t even know who you are anymore. You’re not Grant Ward.”

“Where the hell are you going with this?”

“Something’s happened to you, Grant. You’ve turned into someone else. A killer, some kind of monster. You’re not the man I fell in love with.”

“Skye, I do love you. You know,”

“How can you even pretend to care about me when you restrain me from everything else?”

“You know I’m just trying to protect you.” Ward said, approaching her again and caressing her cheek. “I don’t know where you’re getting these insane ideas, Skye. I mean you no harm.”

Skye pulled away from him, “Something is wrong with you, Grant. I don’t know what it is, but this cannot continue.”

“What do you mean?” Ward asked, shrinking back slightly.

“I can’t continue to act like I still feel safe with you when I’m actually not. You’re not Grant, I don’t know who the hell you are.”

“Skye, babe, you’re just,”

“Get away from me.” Skye growled, backing up towards the door. “Bring me back my Grant.” She spun and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her with tears in her eyes.

Ward remained frozen in place, a newfound darkness brewing from deep within his chest. All had abandoned him, it seemed. Even his mate. Claimed that there was something wrong with him. Was there something wrong with him? He didn’t notice. He had lost all. And maybe, just maybe, everyone would pay for those wrongs.

His lips curled into a bloodthirsty snarl to reveal his razor-sharp fangs. His eyes darkened as they completely blackened, only his irises showing any color, even though it was a deep, blood-red. A growl rumbled deep in his chest and soon morphed into a menacing howl that ripped out and echoed all throughout the base. His body began to shake as he couldn’t control the monster that was to come.

The Blood Wolf had finally awakened, and there was no stopping it.

* * *

 

 

  _“Grant, please. Son, please come out.” Coulson pleaded, staring at Grant’s closed door. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t help it. And besides, the kid didn’t die. He’s going to be okay.”_

_Grant’s door slowly opened, to reveal the teen, now eighteen, with red-rimmed eyes. “But I was the one that snapped, not it. I’m the one that let it come out and attack that kid.”_

_Coulson sighed and kneeled down in front of Grant, “Son, I know that you still can’t control it. So anything that it does, you’re not at fault for. It’s just a good thing that it didn’t kill. The kid’s only a little torn up. He’s just mainly scared. He doesn’t know that it was you. He only saw the wolf.”_

_“But what happens when it does end up killing?” Grant asked, avoiding Coulson’s gaze. “Will it not be my fault then?”_

_“Until you’re the one that actually causes the damage, it’s not your fault.” Coulson continued. “That wolf is a totally different entity than you. Its actions are not your own. But, Grant, I do have one word for you.”_

_Grant looked at him, regret swirling in his brown eyes, “Yes, dad?” he asked quietly._

_Coulson couldn’t help but to smile at him. Grant had only recently started to call him dad and it still made him happy that the kid had accepted him. “Look, Grant. It’s that rage of yours. You’ve got to learn how to control it. The rage is the gateway to the wolf. If you can control it, then you control the wolf. And that rage will someday be your downfall if you don’t get a handle on it.”_

_“You’re gonna make me see that therapist again, aren’t you?”_

_“Only if it helps and tones down that rage. That’s the key with you, get rid of your anger.”_

_“Yeah, and my other numerous mental issues.”_

_“Grant, son, don’t do this to yourself. Not now. But I am telling the truth. I am afraid for what your rage could eventually do if left unchecked. I’m even afraid that it could create an even more dangerous monster than what the wolf already is.”_

_Grant looked away and said nothing, his shame returning._

_Coulson sighed and stood, placing a hand on Grant’s shoulder, “Look, I just don’t want you becoming the very thing you fear. I know you want to avoid the wolf at all costs, but if this rage continues… You may become something more.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the 'might' of the Blood Wolf is finally unleashed. Ward thinks all has forsaken him once Skye runs from him, fearing for her life once she finds his kill. But what will come of this new wolf as it's unleashed within the base? And the team? There's no telling. Keep the comments and kudos coming! And please keep the comments nice, I had one particular one last chapter that I took to offence.


	25. And The Blood Paints the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye meets what has become of Ward...

Skye froze as soon as the howl echoed out, one of which was distorted and monstrous. It seemed to be filled with pain, anger, and sadness, but it sounded far from one of Ward’s. That’s how she knew that he was too far gone, that something completely monstrous had happened to him.

She then continued to run, heading to where the rest of the team was boarded up, hoping that they were all there. If they were separated, they were all in danger from whatever was to come from Ward. A fight was coming, one that would be very, very hard to win.

Running into the sector, she slammed the door behind her. She leaned back against the door trying to catch her breath, tears still streaming down her face. Trip was the first to notice her distress, he clearly hadn’t heard the warning howl.

“Skye, what the hell happened?” he asked, Fitzsimmons now taking notice.

“W-We’re all in danger. Grant… He’s… He’s insane. He’s not himself and I think something just happened to him. He’s going to kill us. He’s going to kill us.” Skye sobbed as Trip brought her into a comforting embrace. “He’s a monster.”

Fitzsimmons both exchanged nervous looks, “What do you mean?” Fitz asked. “What the hell went on between you two?”

“I told him off. Told him that I couldn’t stay with him anymore, that he wasn’t my Grant. Fitz, he killed an innocent agent just for getting in his way. I can’t be around him. I can’t. “Now I think he’s after me. After all of us. He’s going to kill all of us.”

“Skye, he was already insane. Why the hell did you tell him off?” Simmons asked, panic seeping into her voice. “You should’ve known that would’ve set him off.”

“Not like this. Not like,” Another howl split through the air, everyone now hearing it.

Trip gulped, “That doesn’t sound good.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

Everyone turned to see Coulson and May coming into the room, a silver revolver in Coulson’s hands. “Skye, this isn’t your fault. Grant was already too far gone. I should’ve dealt with him before it got this bad, but I didn’t. That’s not the man out there, that’s the wolf. A monster, a complete monster.” Pain shone in his eyes, “And we’re gonna have to take him out. Should’ve taken him out when I first noticed his downfall, and that was before you turned. Whatever happened between you two caused some kind of change in him, and that only brought out his most monstrous qualities.”

“What do you mean by ‘take him out’?” Skye asked, voice trembling.

“Skye, I mean kill him.” Coulson held up the revolver. “This holds about five pure silver bullets. One to the heart should take him down. He’s gone, Skye. He’s been gone for the past few days now. There’s no getting him back. The only way out of this is to kill him.”

It was obvious that it pained Coulson to make this decision. He didn’t want to kill Ward, but he saw no other way. If the wolf really had become a pure monster and had erased Ward from existence, there really was no other way. Only the beast remained. And it wanted to kill.

Skye started to shake just as an alarm started to blare out, “No, you can’t kill him. There’s got to be another way!” she exclaimed.

Coulson shook his head, “There isn’t. The wolf has him and isn’t going to give him up. We can fight, but we cannot save him. Grant’s gone, Skye. He isn’t coming back.”

She froze, shaking her head over and over as another howl split through the air. “No, I can’t lose him.” she muttered. “Whatever this thing is that has him, I’m going to fucking kill it.” Her voice morphed into a growl. “I’m going to kill it and it’s going to give me back my Grant. I am going to get him back.”

“Skye, what the hell are you planning to do?” Trip asked, eyeing her.

She looked at them, her countenance already shifted. Her blue eyes gleamed, “I’m going to fight. Is there a problem with it?” she asked, growling. “I’m going to kick its ass and kill it.”

The team stepped back as Skye’s body suddenly ripped and shifted into that of her wolf, her shredded clothes falling onto the floor. She looked back at them and whined briefly before ripping the door down and running out into the hallway, the alarms growing louder.

She didn’t waste no time running towards the new scent of this strange wolf. The smell was acrid and corrupted, smelling of hate and disgust. Rage and death. This was the scent of something that wanted to kill, and wouldn’t stop at nothing to do so. This was a complete and utter monster that had no off switch.

The air was filled with sirens and scream, whether that be screams of pain or screams of fear. There was no telling. There was no telling to what this monster could be doing at this very second, and Skye’s only thoughts were driving her to take it down and bring back Ward. If that were even possible.

 Everything suddenly went strangely quiet as screams stopped and an uneasy presence filled the air. Skye stiffened up as a harsh and menacing growl echoed from right behind her, the ground shaking as something seemed to take a step towards her.

She turned around, freezing up as she saw the new figure: It was a wolf, almost nine feet tall and extremely, extremely bulky with muscle. Long, black hair hung off of it and red splotches of fur peppered it in various spots. And its eyes were hollow and black, other than its piercing red irises that seemed to stare right past her. Blood dripped off of its beared fangs and claws. It had already been killing.

And one thing stood out to her: this is what Ward had become. This monster, whatever it was, had taken the place of the man that she loved. It growled at her, signaling that it wanted to kill.

 _“You all that are weak will pay for your misdeeds.”_ something roared in her head. It was talking to her in her head. _“Your friend is no more. I am the Blood Wolf, and I will kill all. That is what I was born to do. You cannot stop nor kill me. All will fall beneath me before you can even lay a finger on me. You cannot fucking stop me. And you cannot fucking try.”_

Its voice was harsh like nails on a chalkboard, Ward’s voice within it somewhere. It wanted blood and was only using Ward as some kind of host. This was some kind of curse that had taken him over and had morphed him into the very thing that he hated: a murderous monster.

A soft whine escaped from Skye’s chest as the monster loomed over her, ready to kill. And one thing, if it was the only thing, was clear:

There was no way out of this. No way at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter. I'm not feeling very well again and this was all that I could drum up. It's the best I could do just to introduce the monster and Coulson's willingness to kill him. And Skye's willingness to save him. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	26. A New Way to Bleed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and the Blood Wolf fight.

Coulson barreled out of the room towards the sounds of the monstrous howls, silver revolver in hand and May and Trip tailing him. His heat beat fast, about to burst out of his chest. He didn’t want to do what he knew what he had to do. He didn’t want to kill Grant, he didn’t want to have to kill his son. But he knew that Grant was long gone and probably could not return. There was only the monster.

“Sir, do you really think he’s gone?” Trip asked, keeping up with Coulson’s pace. “Do you really think that?”

“I hate to, but I do.” Coulson replied, a crack in his voice. “I’ve should’ve seen what he was becoming sooner, maybe it could’ve been stopped. But no one could get near him without being attacked. “Or maybe it wouldn’t of had done a single damn thing. My son’s gone. That monster is the only thing keeping him alive. A bullet’s going to have to be put into him.”

“Phil,” May began. “Don’t do this if you don’t want to.”

Coulson stopped suddenly and spun to look at May, “And what else am I supposed to do? Let that monster run amok and kill every single person in this base? Hell no. It needs to be stopped before it can kill more. It’s probably already killed a good bit. And I don’t want to know what will happen when Skye gets to it. If Grant transformed into this monster because of Skye, there’s no telling what the monster will do to her. I don’t want to lose her too.”

May took a breath and looked at Trip, “Triplett, go make sure Fitzsimmons are okay. I don’t want them on their own.”

“Are you sure that you two will be okay?” Trip asked. 

“We’ll be fine. Fitzsimmons are a bigger worry. Go.”

Trip nodded hesitantly before running off back the way they had came.

“Phil, I hope you have a plan for all of this.”

“Unfortunately, I do. If Skye can get this monster, whatever it is, cornered, I take the shot. Hopefully one, clean shot through its heart should kill it.” Coulson explained, clutching the gun at his side. 

“And it kills him too. What if he’s still in there?”

Coulson grimaced, “That’s… That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“You’re willing to kill your very own adopted son in order to kill this monster?”

“I told you, he’s already too far gone. He hasn’t been Grant for the past week or so. Ever since he and Skye got back to the Bus after the incident. That man is not Grant Ward.”

“Fine. What do we do after he’s dead?”

A gulp. “We… We go on. Bury him. T-That’s all that we can do.” It was clear that it pained Coulson greatly for him to make these decisions. But it had to be done. The monster had to be killed. 

“Skye. She won’t be able to make it through this, Coulson. You know that she’s got some very close bond with Ward. She’s already hurting enough as it is.”

“She’s currently trying to kick that thing’s ass. Maybe she’ll find a way to kill it and get him back before we can get there. But… But it’s highly unlikely.”

May nodded, “Then let’s get the job done. Before anyone can get hurt.”

Coulson took a ragged breath and eventually nodded as well, “Fine.” And then he added silently to himself, “I’m sorry, Grant.”

* * *

 

  
  


Skye backed away from the massive wolf, fear pouring off of her in waves.  _ “I-I don’t want to kill you.”  _ she thought, hoping that it would hear her. And it did.

_ “You just don’t want to kill him. But he’s gone. He’s been gone ever since you turned. That night he tried to kill himself? He actually succeeded. I’ve been in his place ever since. Not this version of me. One that was more him than me, but it wasn’t him. He’s dead. He killed himself and there’s no taking that back.” _

She couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t saved Ward that night he had had that violent panic attack where he had tried to claw himself to death, because he really  _ had  _ clawed himself to death. The wolf had merely taken his body.  _ “No, he can’t be dead. He can’t be dead!”  _ She snarled at the monster.

It approached her, blinking slowly at her,  _ “You can believe what you want, but it won’t get him back. I tried to protect you, he gave you to me in death. But you didn’t want to love the man that he had become. So I had to strike back. Consider this revenge.” _

_ “That wasn’t the Grant I knew.” _

_ “Of course it wasn’t. He’s dead. Only his other side remained. Only I remained.”  _ It snarled, revealing those massive, sharp teeth and then picked her up with a clawed hand,  _ “And only I will remain here. Everyone shall die, even you. He’s not here to protect you. I am the monster that everyone feared him to be and it came true in the end.”  _ It growled and stared her straight into the eyes. Its void-like eyes seemed to draw her in, red orbs glowing far in the distance.  _ “And I will kill you. I will live up to my name. I am the curse that merely took him over. That’s all I am. A curse, an idea. I am what becomes of wolves far too protective of their mates. This is their fate. They fall to that violence and become me. Your mate just happened to be the one I chose.” _

It flung her aside and she slammed into the wall, the concrete cracking against her massive form. She stood and growled at the Blood Wolf, her fangs beared,  _ “I will kill you! I will kill you and get him back!” _

_ “And what makes you think that you can get him back? I told you, he’s dead. He’s gone. He killed himself. There is no going back. You are so foolish to think that you can do a single damn thing against me.” _

_ “I can try!”  _ Skye flung herself at the wolf, her speed surprising the monster. She sliced into its skin, and she hung onto it with her claws.

It roared at her and swiped at her,  _ “Fucking get off of me! I will kill you, bitch! I will live up to my name!”  _

She winced as its massive claws hit her, slicing her skin. She could feel the blood starting to ooze out. There was no way that this could go on for much longer. This thing was simply much too powerful.

It flung her to the ground and it loomed over her,  _ “You cannot win. That’s a given fact. Just stop trying. What did I tell you? I will kill you in the end. I will kill all that reside in this God-forsaken base. I will be the winner here. There are no other winners, only me.” _

Blood was roaring in her ears as the beast loomed over her still, prepared to strike. It was going to tear her apart, piece by piece. It would probably eat her as well. 

_ “The man you love is gone. His subsequent insanity was the only reason why I am so powerful. He fell to it before you turned. His wolf’s hunger got the best of him, and that is what lured me to him when he died. All of this is his fault. You only have him to blame for your death.” _

She remained frozen underneath the monster’s glare. It was going to kill her. It was going to very well kill her. This was her end. Maybe she would see Ward somewhere after she died. She only hoped. 

And she was too afraid to see the new figures run into the room and someone scream:

“Skye, get out of the way!” 

And a gunshot rang out. A single bullet. And all of time froze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, you all know that I wasn't going to make this Blood Wolf stuff last more than three chapters with the actual monster. There's just a little bit more fight before it's all said and done. It's only a matter to whether Ward is actually alive or not. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	27. The Devil's Got Me In His Grasp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wolf falls, but things are too good to be true.

Skye watched in horror as something ripped through the wolf’s chest, causing it to freeze up. Its eyes darted to something behind her, she could sense that it was Coulson. It looked back to her and growled and waves of pain wracked its/Ward’s body.

_“Damn you! I can’t be taken down so fucking soon! You will die! You will all fucking die like the pieces of shit you are!”_

The wolf practically roared, the roar full of pain and agony. It was dying. It was actually dying. And it was all happening so fast. The massive beast fell to the ground, writhing as its body burned. Whatever had entered its body was doing some serious damage.

But this was all happening way too fast. It just had appeared not too long ago, now it was dying. That was the best thing, get rid of it as fast as possible. But it still all felt so wrong, so _off._

 _“You can’t win. You can’t kill me like this. You can’t…”_ Its voice faded in Skye’s head. A soft whine echoed in her chest as she backed up, seeing the wolf shrink in size. Its features morphed back into those of Ward, his body still writhing from the effects of the unknown object. He laid naked face down on the concrete, and it was obvious that he was dying.

Skye looked to Coulson, freezing as she saw tears in his eyes and a silver gun hanging limply from his hand at his side. Then she realized just what had happened: Coulson had shot the monster with what had to be a silver bullet in order to get Ward back. But by the look in Coulson’s eyes, it wasn’t going to get Ward back.

The silver was killing whatever was left of him. It hadn’t just killed the Blood Wolf. It was killing Ward as well.

“Get him to medical.” Coulson croaked, frozen in place. “Maybe we can, maybe we can… Shit, just try something. Please. Someone. I-I don’t want him to die. He’s my son.” The gun fell from his hands and landed on the concrete with a clank and he fell to his knees, “I killed him. I killed my own son.”

Medical agents rushed from around him, crowding around Ward. They ignored Skye as she realized that they knew that something like this would happen. Medical agents had already been on standby. They knew that Ward would die. The agents loaded Ward’s naked form onto a stretcher, covering his lower half with a sheet. Skye could faintly see what seemed to be a horrible burn lacing across his chest, a clean hole in his heart. The silver was burning him alive. His body continued to convulse as the agents took him away, but it was clear that he wasn’t awake.

Skye’s head was swimming as May came slowly up to her, “Hey, Skye. It’s over.” she said softly. “The monster’s gone, you can come back now.”

Skye shook her head in response, as if she was trying to tell May that it wasn’t over. _“Of course it’s not over. Grant’s dying because of that bastard. Dying, he’s dying.”_

She whined and quickly shifted back to human and May handed her a blanket for her to cover up with. Her eyes were glassed-over as she looked to May, “Where are they taking Grant?”

“The infirmary to try to save him. But you don’t need to be in there right now, Skye. I know that you love him, but it’s best that you stay out of the way until they can do something. Go get cleaned up and get some clothes on.” May said softly, compassion in her eyes.

“But what if he dies?”

“Let the doctors work, Skye. They’re going to try their best, even with Ward’s differing biology.”

Skye’s eyes drifted to Coulson, who still knelt on the ground, frozen in place. “You may want to get him.” she muttered, tightening her hold on the blanket. “Before he does something.” She walked off numbly, not caring about anything else. She made her way back to her and Ward’s room and absentmindedly dug for clothes.

She could hardly remember slipping them on before she broke down into violent sobs. The floor was the best place for her, as for she curled up in a distant corner and let the sobs take her over.

Ward was dying and would probably never come back. The wolf ultimately killed him in the end. Coulson wasn’t to blame, he was just trying to stop the monster. The monster wasn’t Ward, it only merely controlled him. The wolf was what killed him, nothing else.

And her mind went blank as the sobs continued to control her. Ward was dying and nothing else mattered.

 

 

* * *

 

(A Few Hours Later)

Skye awoke to find Simmons standing over her. She bolted up, “Grant? Is it Grant? He’s dead isn’t he?”

Simmons took a sharp breath and held out her hand for Skye to take. She helped Skye to her feet and looked her straight into the eyes, “They’ve got him somewhat stable, but the silver is currently coursing through his system and burning everything it touches. They… They don’t think that he’s going to make it through the night, Skye.” she explained slowly. “It’s best that you do your goodbyes now before something happens. I-I’m sorry.”

Skye shook her head, “It’s not your fault, Jemma. You’re trying your best. It was that wolf. That monster. It wasn’t you or Coulson.” She looked off to the side, “Take me to him. Please.”

“Fine.” Simmons agreed, beginning to lead her to the medical bay. “But like I said, he’s not in good shape. He’s awake, but he’s unresponsive. He won’t know that you’re there. He’s just writhing in pain. It’s probably better for him if he does pass. Put him out of his misery.”

Silence followed Simmons’ words and the biochemist wordlessly led Skye to Ward’s room. And Skye’s knees about buckled as she saw Ward. Numerous tubes and wires were connected to him, trying to combat the effects of the bullet. And his eyes were wide open, pupils blown and shaking. His entire frame shook with violent spasms.

Simmons’ stood off to the side, “I would be prepared for him to die sometime during the night. So I would say my goodbyes now.” She left the room, leaving Skye along with Ward.

Skye took a breath and dragged a chair right to Ward’s bed and she sat down in it, looking at her mate. “Hey, I guess this is really goodbye, isn’t it?” she croaked, taking his hand. “I tried to protect you, but couldn’t. That monster got you in the end.” She stroked the calloused skin of his hand, “I don’t want to lose you, but life doesn’t work that way.

I… I just wanted to say goodbye. They say that you’re not going to make it through the night. You’re close to death.” She choked up, tears still in her eyes, “Oh, God. I can’t do this. I can’t lose you. We’ve got too much left. And you’ve even hardly helped me yet. Whatever happened to your promise of never leaving my side?” Tears streamed down her face and she leaned her head down onto the mattress next to Ward’s side.

“I love you, Grant. Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.” The sobs returned, wracking her small frame. “I can’t lose you. Not again. I just wanted you back, not like this. Not like this.”

She became lost in the sea of cries, not seeing Ward’s frame. His head slowly turned and his wide, pain-filled eyes landed on her. A small, yet pained, smile formed on his sweat-covered face. “Skye.” he croaked, weakly squeezing her hand.

And once more, he tried to get her attention:

“Skye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that the whole Blood Wolf stuff was short-lived, but I wanted to get Ward back as fast as possible. So I didn't dwell long on it. So it's dead, but Ward's also dying because of the silver bullet. Will he actually make it through the night, or is his moment of coherency just a false indicator? Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	28. As I Breathe, I Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward's self-hate grows, and Skye's there to stop it.

Skye froze up after the crack of Ward’s voice finally came through to her. She slowly looked up to see Ward’s pained face looking straight at her, a thin smile on his face. The pained light in his eyes slightly died down as he realized that Skye was looking back at him.

“Skye.” he croaked, weakly squeezing her hand again.

“Oh my God, Grant! You’re awake!” she exclaimed, tears still blurring her vision. She reached out and wiped at the sweat beading his forehead. God, he was burning up. His body must’ve been fighting that silver hard, resulting in a dangerously high fever. Or the silver was literally burning him from the inside out. 

“I’m sorry.” he whispered, trying to lick his cracked and dried lips. “I’m sorry.”

She paused, “Wait, why are you apologizing?” she asked, taking his hand once again. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”

“The monster… Was my fault.” He struggled to get every word out, his breaths coming sharp and fast. He was in absolute agony. A violent cough rattled his weak frame and a small amount of blood came up, staining the skin of his chin. That was far from a good sign. “I let it come. I let it… Devour…” His head laid back onto the pillow and he was struggling to keep his eyes open. “I let it do all of that damage.”  
“Grant, that… That wasn’t your fault. Hell, that wasn’t you at all. That thing was an entirely differently entity. You couldn’t prevent that at all.”

His eyes fluttered shut for a moment and Skye’s heart skipped a few beats, but they soon opened, but stayed off of her. “Yes, I could have.” he croaked, his voice low and raspy. It was amazing just how fast downhill he was heading due to the silver in his body. It only had been a couple of hours, but he was on the verge of death. It was only his inhuman side that was allowing him to even keep up this conversation.   
“I was the one that became that monster, not anyone else. I… I was the one that became too crazy in the end.” He drew a ragged breath and his eyes trailed over to Skye, “I was the one that created a monster. I created you. I drew that thing to me. It is all my fault. All of the blood that was spilt is on my hands. I am the beast. I let everyone down. Anything that it did is on me.” His eyes went back to being locked onto the ceiling. It was like he couldn’t bear to look at Skye. Skye, to him, was just a reminder of his mistakes. There was a part of him that thought that he should’ve just had let her die. And maybe he wouldn’t be in this mess. But there was another part that told him he would be even worse now if Skye had of died.

Skye reached out and forcefully turned Ward’s head so he could see her. “Grant, I don’t want you to say any of that to me anymore. You are not at fault. What do you want me to say to you that will convince you that you’re not to blame?”

“There’s nothing you can say.” he replied, trying to pry away from her. “There’s nothing I want. I just want this to end. I want to die. That’s all that I want.”

Skye’s heart lurched once more, “You are not going to die. You’ve got too much that you’re leaving behind.” she said, just a little too harshly.

“I’ve got nothing left. I can’t face… Can’t face the team again. There’s nothing left for me.” His words were getting weaker by the second. She just hoped that unconsciousness was getting to him, but she feared that it was Death himself grabbing at him. 

“You’ve got me. Grant, you promised me that you would help me. You haven’t done that yet. You’ve still got a promise to fulfill.”

“What’s the point anymore? I destroy everything I touch. I won’t be helping you at all, I… I will only hurt you more. I can’t touch you anymore. Just let me give up. Just let me die.” He became silent, his body still trembling. “Just let me go, Skye. I’m not worth it.”

“Grant, you know that you mean the whole world to me. I don’t know just where the hell you are getting this from. I know that you’re hurting. I know that you’re on the verge of death, but I’m not going to let you die. You are not going to die today. You are not going to leave me.” Skye took Ward’s head in her hands and she stared him right in the face, “You are more than what you think you are. You are not giving up today.

I’m not letting go of you just yet. This whole mess isn’t going to mean your end.” she continued. “You’re a hero, Grant. Don’t let the monster’s actions tear you down and reduce you to utterly nothing. Its actions are not yours. That wasn’t you, it was a curse that took your body over and used it. It used you. It used us. But you were nowhere inside of that body. You weren’t in your body for about two weeks. Ever since you tried to kill yourself. Ever since then, you weren’t yourself. Stop blaming yourself for something that you did not do. Grant, look at me and listen to my words. You are not the problem.”

A small light shone in Ward’s eyes as his face softened, taking Skye’s words to heart. He didn’t want to believe her, but every fiber of his body was telling him to. But he just felt so damn tired. Every part of him just wanted to give up and give into the silver that was currently trying to kill him. His eyes felt so heavy and he just wanted to close them, hoping that they would never open again. All the blood that had been spilled by the monster stained his hands and weighed heavy on his heart. He wasn’t a killer, but the wolf had turned him into one. He remembered how much he loved killing as he began to slip. Even if the monster had been the one that had killed, his hidden bloodlust was what had fueled the monster’s short-lived reign of terror. He was the root of problem that had tried to kill all that he loved.  
“I’m sorry.” he croaked once more, his eyes slowly closing. “I’m sorry.”

“Look, I forgive you, Grant. And I still do love you.” She froze up as she saw Ward’s eyes start to close. Was she actually losing him? “Grant! Don’t you close your eyes! Don’t you close your fucking eyes! Please!”  
“I’m just so tired, Skye. Let me sleep.” he slurred, giving in to whatever was pulling him down. “I love you… Too…” His words were quiet, barely audible. His eyes fluttered shut and he became eerily silent.   
“Grant!” Skye screamed. “Grant!” 

But that’s when she noticed that the heart monitors were still registering a heartbeat, even though it was slow. Her eyes flickered to his chest and saw the gentle rise and fall of it with each breath. It felt like a massive weight had been taken off of her chest, he was still alive. He had just fallen asleep. Perhaps they had given him some kind of pain meds to help combat his pain and they had finally taken effect and had pulled him into unconsciousness. There was no telling just how large a dosage they had to give him since he was far from human. She just hoped that it had been that.  
“Oh, thank God.” she muttered. “He’s still alive. He’s still alive.” 

And with that, Skye stood up and carefully pushed Ward’s unconscious frame over in the massive hospital bed. She couldn’t believe just how easy it was. She knew that the man weighed somewhere over 200 pounds with his highly-muscular self, but it was like he barely weighed anything. Taking a breath, Skye laid down in the bed next to Ward, curling up against his frame despite his fever-induced heat radiating off of him in waves. She just wanted to be with him since she hadn’t been with the true him in what seemed like a long time now. 

And she drifted off asleep with the gleaming hope that her mate would be alive and well when she woke burning strong in her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Ward is alive, but not too well. His mind is filled with self-deprecating thoughts about all that had happened. But at least Skye's there to stop it, right? (And why on Earth did I use my state's motto for the chapter title?) Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	29. But I am Hellbound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to go back to normal.

Skye woke sometime later to find Ward’s arms wrapped protectively around her and a soft snore coming from deep in his chest. She craned her neck to see that most of the wires and tubes that had been connected to him had been removed. Only an IV remained. Hope filled her since this showed that only overnight he had healed tremendously. The silver hadn’t killed him, but she didn’t know had he had healed so damn fast. But, honestly, she didn’t care.

Med agents must’ve checked him during the night as she had been asleep, that just went to show how hard she slept. She smiled as she shifted her way to face him. She found his mouth slightly agape as he continued to snore. His medical scrubs were ruffled and had just a bit of blood on them over his chest. She hated to see what that area looked like. Ward let out a soft groan as Skye buried her head deep into his chest.

A few seconds of silence followed as she heard Ward breath in deeply. “You’re up?” he groaned, burying his own head into her hair.

“Yeah.” she replied, turning around to see him smiling goofily at her. “And you’re alive.”

“Yeah, I didn’t die. It hurts like hell, though. Docs said earlier that it would probably take a few days for this burn to heal. The silver created a third degree burn and burnt well into my skin. The only reason why it didn’t destroy my heart is because the bullet destroyed that beast. That beast was a barrier between the bullet and me. Of course there was some injury to me, but it’ll heal.” His lips brushed the skin of her forehead, “God, I missed you.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“It becomes all blurry after that night I tried to kill myself.” Ward said, a hint of defeat in his voice. He took Skye’s hand and began to lightly trace circles onto her palm with a claw. Of course this didn’t hurt her, he couldn’t hurt her whatsoever. “It stops sometime after we got back to the Bus.”

“That was like two weeks ago, Grant.” Skye whispered, brushing aside a bang that was hanging down onto his forehead. “You’ve lost two weeks.”

Ward’s face fell, “Two weeks?” he croaked. “I was really that _thing_ for two weeks?”

“Grant, babe, that wasn’t you. That thing only took over your body. And we already had this conversation, remember?” she asked, nuzzling into his side. “You’re not to blame for what that thing did. No one’s blaming you. Everyone just wants to see you alive and well. And it looks like we’re getting that way.” she explained. “I love you, Grant. I’m not angry at you for what happened. Hell, I’m not even angry that you turned me. The only thing that matters is that we’re both alive, right? Everything’s fine as long as we have each other.”

His lips brushed hers and he pulled back as Skye shivered against the scratch of his bead, “I’m really glad that we have each other.” he breathed.

“Yeah, but I’m not glad about that beard, though.” she said, poking him on the chin. “Get rid of it.”

“Why?” Ward whined, glad that Skye was changing the subject from what had happened over the past several days. “I like it.”

“One, it’s nappy. Two, it’s messy. Three, I don’t like that it scratches me when you kiss me. Like I said, get rid of it. You can have stubble, but that’s it.” She slid out of the bed and looked down at Ward. “You need to clean up.”

“And how the hell am I supposed to take a shower when there’s an IV connected to me?” Ward retorted, flashing her a grin.

“I will give you a sponge bath for God’s sakes, Grant. Besides you’re starting to smell like a dirty dog.”

“Maybe that’s because I am one.”

“Grant,” Skye warned, crossing her arms. “Up, now. I am giving you a bath and you are shaving that beard.” She walked over and helped him to his feet, he wobbled as he hung onto his IV pole. It was clear that the silver poisoning and burn had made him very weak. She helped him to the bathroom, where he stripped his clothes off down to his underwear.

Ward sat on the edge of the toilet, his back to Skye. Skye found a washcloth and soap and began scrubbing at his skin. He let out a soft whine as she worked at washing his back. She eventually made her way to his front, where she froze at the sight of the burn.

It wasn’t covered up since it had already healed enough to where it could be exposed to the air, but it still looked nasty. The skin was red and inflamed in about a six-inch diameter around his heart, where a small scarred lump marked where the bullet had gone in. Purple bruises surrounded the area. She carefully swiped at it with the cloth and Ward growled in pain.

“Hey, that still hurts.” he hissed.

“Sorry. This is going to scar, isn’t it?” she asked softly.

He nodded slowly, “I think it is. But it’s nothing. It only adds to the numerous amounts of other scars I have.” he replied. “It doesn’t matter. Only a reminder of what happened.”

Skye sighed and threw the cloth to the side, “Well, that’s the most I can do.” she stated as Ward rose to his feet. “Hopefully you can take an actual shower tonight. You still smell like a dog.”

Ward laughed and looped an arm around her, drawing her close, “That’s because I am a dog, Skye.” His beard brushed her ear and she flinched.

“Ugh, Grant, beard!” she exclaimed.

“There’s no razor in here.”

“Then I’ll go get one then. And I’ll get your clothes as well.” Skye spun on her heels and left the room in its entirety.

Ward narrowed his eyes and shook his head, turning his attention to the mirror. He walked over and stared at his reflection, seeing just how weak he looked. Well, at least Skye was right about his beard, it did look messy. That was the problem about being half-wolf, hair tended to grow fast. That’s why he normally kept a small beard or at least stubble, just because it was too hard to keep clean-shaven.

He poked and prodded at his burn, wincing at pain shot through the area. “Yeah, that’s gonna leave a nasty mark.” he mumbled. “Just a reminder of what I became. Doesn’t matter what Skye tells me, though. I’m still at fault for all that happened because I let it happen.” He shook his head once more, leaning on the counter for support as things grew blurry. He probably shouldn’t be up like this quite yet. He should’ve given himself another day to heal more.

“Grant, are you okay?”

Ward looked up to see Skye standing in the doorway, a bundle in her arms. He blinked, had he been zoned-out? It just seemed like she had left, now she was back. He shrugged and took the bundle from her and she left him to his business. He found the razor and shaved his beard to a somewhat close stubble. Then he washed his face and slipped his scrubs back on, finding that he couldn’t put his own clothes on with the IV connected to him in his hand.

He walked out of the bathroom, wheeling the IV pole behind him. Skye raised an eyebrow at him, noting that he didn’t change his clothes. Ward shrugged, “Can’t put them on with the IV.”

Skye scoffed and walked over to him, “Well, your face looks better. That’s all that matters.”

His lips brushed her cheek and he drew her close once more, “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.” he muttered into her ear, nipping at the skin.

“Whoa, hold on there, Wolfie.” she said, looking up at him with a teasing smile. “I don’t think that you’re quite there yet. You’re still very weak.”

“Who says I was going there?”

“Grant, I know you. You were going there. And you’re in hospital scrubs, that’s not very sexy.”

Ward growled into her ear and rubbed his hand down her back, “Whatever you say.” he breathed as he pulled away. “And besides, I’m starving.”

“Well, I don’t think that you’ve eaten in a while. Get your ass back in that bed and I’ll get you something to eat.”

He sighed, but complied, making his way back into the bed as Skye left the room. He smiled at the empty doorframe, knowing that everything was returning back to normal.

Well, however normal life could be for the two of them.

But that didn’t matter to him one bit. As long as he had her, he was happy. And it finally seemed that he was finally getting the life he always wanted. And nothing would stand in the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this was merely only fluff as the story winds down. There's probably only two more chapters left before the end, so the story is practically over believe it or not. And there's a reason to why Ward is healing so damn fast, and it's not just because he's a werewolf. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	30. And There is Only Our Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And things return to normal.

(Two Days Later)

Skye helped Ward slip his shirt on over his scarring burn, which pained him greatly to do so. The head med agent, and Simmons, had cleared him to leave the infirmary, which greatly surprised everyone. Just the other day, they were expecting him to die. Now he was up and walking around like nothing ever happened, with the exception of pain in his chest area. No one knew how he had healed so damn fast, there was no way that a werewolf could heal from a silver burn like that. But no one actually cared since he was well.

“You better be glad that you have me to help you put your clothes on, Wolfie.” Skye began, pointing at him. “Or you would be running around shirtless for a while.” She paused, “Actually, I wouldn’t mind that one bit.”

Ward rolled his eyes and slipped his black leather jacket on, “Yeah, I know that. But this base has people other than you on it. People who really don’t want to see me running around with no shirt on.” he retorted, slipping his arm around her torso.

“Who wouldn’t want to see your muscular self?” Skye asked, nuzzling into his side.

“Uh, people who aren’t attracted to men?” he stated. “I know that you really appreciate my body, but not everyone does, Skye.” He narrowed his eyes and a smile twitched on his mouth, “Say, isn’t Skye a dog name anyways?”

She elbowed him in the side, “Shut it.” she growled. “And besides, you’ll have to do way better than that, Grant. You can’t use my own name as a nickname.”

Ward shrugged and brushed his lips across Skye’s forehead, his stubble scratching her skin, “Whatever, I’ll think of something. Come on, let’s get out of here. I’d rather not spend another second in this God-forsaken room. The antiseptic smell is starting to burn my nose.”

Skye huffed and intertwined her fingers with his, and they left the infirmary once and for all side-by-side. “You know, they’re all waiting for you.” she commented as they walked the halls. “They’re glad that you’re alive.”

“Then why didn’t any of them come and see me while I was in there?” Ward asked, keeping his eyes ahead of them. “Not even my own dad came to see me. Are they all afraid of me still or something?”

“No, they’re not afraid. They were just giving you some space, that’s all. It wouldn’t be good if they all came in and intruded at one. You needed some space as you healed.” Skye explained.

“Yet, you were constantly at my side.”

“I think that I’m an exception, Grant. Are you saying that you _don’t_ like my presence?” she asked, keeping their pace steady.

Ward scoffed, “You know that I was just joking, babe. You know that I would never want you to leave my side. Not after what happened.” His voice was low and full of shame.

Skye stopped and turned to face him, “Grant, how many times do I have to tell you that all that Blood Wolf shit wasn’t your fault at all?” she asked as he averted his gaze from her. “You couldn’t help that was going to happen. You’re not at fault. And besides, none of us got hurt. We’re all okay, there is nothing to blame yourself for.”

With a sigh, he nodded slightly, “I guess that you’re right. It’s just hard to convince myself that I wasn’t at fault there. I was the one that did get a little carried away with myself after what happened with you. If I just had kept my shit together, that wolf would’ve never came. I got so in over my head with my regret, I didn’t see what was coming.”

“Grant, no, I think that wolf had been coming for a long time now. No one could’ve seen that coming. I don’t think it could’ve been stopped. Now, stop worrying and let’s just go see the rest of the team, okay?” she asked, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek. “No one’s going to hate you, they just want to see that you’re alright.”

Ward nodded again and took her hand once more, “Yeah, you’re right.” he sighed as they starting walking again. “There’s nothing to worry about, all that’s in the past. There’s only what’s to come.”

“That’s actually highly positive for you, Grant. You’re always such a downer.”

Ward shrugged, “I guess it’s in my nature, I always think that the worse is going to happen. Guess it stems from my childhood. I always had to expect the worse when something happened. You know, I finally remembered why I first shifted. I started dreaming about it a lot after you found out about me.”

“So what really happened?” Skye asked, worry in her voice.

“My mother pushed me down the stairwell. All because I accidently broke one of her ‘precious’ vases when me and my younger brother were playing. Broke several bones and even cracked open my head as I fell, that’s what triggered the wolf. It lashed out and the only way that I was stopped was that my father cornered me into the basement with a shotgun.” he explained. “Just goes to show just how fucked up my family really was.”

Skye squeezed his hand, “Oh, Grant. Then it’s good that Coulson got you when he did.”

“No, I wish that he could’ve come sooner. Before juvie, before the fire. SHIELD probably would’ve been notified by at least _someone_ if the authorities had of found out about me. I would probably be in a much better place now if I hadn’t lived through two years of your own family trying to kill you every other week. I don’t see why I didn’t run away then. Hell, I don’t even see why my family didn’t have me sent off right off the bat. Why they forced themselves to live with a teenaged werewolf is beyond me. Guess they had something to beat on when they wanted to.”

Skye decided to remain quiet, mainly because she had no idea what to say to him. She had no idea that his childhood had been _this_ messed up. At least he was far away from it now and had his own family, no matter how unorthodox it was. And Ward even had mentioned to her the day before that he would eventually like for the both of them to settle down somewhere and start a small family of their own, and she had agreed. They wouldn’t be leaving each other for a long time. But now wasn’t the time for starting a family.

The two came into the common room, seeing the rest of the team there. They all crowded around Ward, expressing how glad they were that he was alive. Even May did so.

“Sorry I wasn’t very friendly towards you.” May began. “I guess I knew what was coming, but my behavior didn’t help.”

Ward shrugged, “It’s fine, May. I don’t even really remember anyways. The past two weeks are kind of a blur. There’s no need to apologize to me.”

“But you are okay, right?” Triplett asked. “Like you’re not going to Hulk-out or anything of the such? You are you, right?”

“Of course he’s himself, Trip. I wouldn’t be with him if he was someone else.” Skye retorted.

Fitzsimmons came up to him, causing Ward to smile. “It’s great to see you, Ward.” Fitz stated. “We probably really haven’t seen you for a while now.”

Ward nodded, “I’m glad that you’re all happy that I’m alive. At least some people like me.”

“Not everyone hates you.” Simmons stated, crossing her arms. “You’ve got to get over that notion.”

“Yeah, Grant, you do.” Coulson said, coming up to him and giving his son a hug. “Not everyone hates you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. You’ve got us, I think that’s all that matters. How’s the, uh, burn?”

Ward shrugged again, “It hurts. It’s starting to scar pretty bad. Kind of looks like webbing if you ask me. But I’m fine.”

“Look, son, I’m sorry that I did that. I,” Coulson began, but Ward cut him off.

“It’s okay. You had to do it to stop that monster. All that matters is that I’m alive, right?” Ward said, giving him a smile. “Again, there’s no need to apologize, dad.”

Coulson’s face lit up, “Wait, you actually called me dad.” he stated, a hint of joy in his voice, “You haven’t done that since the Academy.”

“I guess I thought it was awkward calling my SO dad even if you were actually the one that adopted me. Now’s a good time to start that again.” Ward explained sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. He yawned, “I guess there’s no better time than now.”

“At least things are moving forward. And did you even sleep at all last night?” Coulson asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Yes.”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“I’ve got him on pain meds, sir.” Simmons interjected. “And it’s a high dosage since his biology is different, he’s going to be kind of sluggish and tired for a while.”

Ward narrowed his eyes at Coulson, “What were you thinking?”

Coulson’s face reddened, “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Okay?” Skye questioned, nodding her head. “Well, Grant, let’s get you to bed before you crash or something. I saw you yesterday. One minute you were completely fine and the next you were out cold.”

“Fine.” Ward grumbled.

Coulson shook his head and laughed as he watched the two wolves walked off, “Oh boy.” he muttered. “I thought I had my hands full already.”

* * *

 

 

(Elsewhere)

Skye curled up into Ward’s side, “You know, I really like these midday naps.” she stated. “I could get used to them.”

“Don’t. As soon as I’m cleared for active duty, I’m working your ass off with training. I’m still your SO, remember? And you’ve got a whole other side to you to train now. The physical stuff should actually be pretty easy now, but the mental stuff the hardest. I don’t want you turning into me.” Ward went on, running his fingers through her hair. “Don’t need you losing control anytime soon. Better to lose control on the enemy rather than on the team.”

“You know that I don’t like early morning training, Wolfie.”

“That’s the best time to do so.”

“And I’m the one that controls your sex life, _Ward_. If I want one more hour of sleep, I’m going to get that hour of sleep.”

Ward grumbled and shied away from her.

“Knew that would shut you up.” Skye said with a grin.

The two laid there in silence until Ward spoke up:

“Were you serious yesterday?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her.

“Serious about what?”

“About agreeing with my idea to eventually settle down somewhere and start a family. I know that it’s risky since we’re both not human, but it’s the closest to living a human life that we can get to.” he explained.

“I don’t see the harm in it, Grant. And it does sound nice with it just being the two of us.”

“I don’t want to stay reliant on SHIELD forever, Skye. I know that this is about the only real family I’ve ever had, but I’d actually like to have one of my own. One with you.”

Skye smiled and turned around to look at him, “We’ll see how things turn out. I know that we’re now physically incapable of leaving each other behind, but things need to go a good route first.”

Ward nodded, “I guess that you’re right. But imagine it, me, you, a kid or two. Maybe a dog.”

“Why the hell would you want a dog when we’re both already partially one.”

“I’ve always wanted one and never could get one.”

“Fine. We can get a dog when that time comes. Anything else you want?”

“I don’t know. But maybe, if you would like, we could eventually get, uh, married too.” His voice sounded flustered and Skye could see his freckled cheeks reddening.

“You actually want me to be your wife?”

“I mean we’re already mates and that’s the wolf equivalent of married. Why not make it true in human terms?”

Skye laughed, seeing just how embarrassed he was. God, she missed this Ward. She kissed him on the cheek, “Yes, I would like to. But give it a while so things can settle down and return to as close as normal as things can get with us.”

Ward gave her one of his toothy grins that she adored and turned back towards her, burying his head in her neck, “I love you.” he breathed.

She wrapped her slender arms around his massive frame and drew him close, “I love you too, Wolfie.”

“Alright, Fifi.”

“What the hell did you just call me?”

“It’s a generic female dog name, right?”

“Grant, just leave the nicknaming to me, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now there's only one more chapter before this is done! There maybe be an epilogue set a couple of years in the future too. So look for that. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	31. What We Have is All That Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ending/ Epilogue!

(A Few Days Later)

Skye found Ward whacking at a punching bag with extreme violence and speed in the cargo hold, it was still amazing to just how fast her could move. His movements weren’t exactly graceful since all of his moves were meant solely for violence. Loud thumps came from the leathery material as she continued to watch from above on the catwalk. And to her pleasure, Ward was shirtless.

She watched as his muscles rippled with each movement he made towards the bag. And she could faintly see the scars that stood out on his chest, back, and arms, all reminders of what he was. Or what they both were. They stood out in stark contrast against his tanned skin. Skye suppressed a smirk as she made her way down the catwalk and Ward slowed his punches to a halt just as her realized that Skye was near him.

A grin filled the man’s face as her turned to face her, “You come to watch me work out, or did you come to join me?” he asked.

“Let’s go with the first thing, Grant. I’d take your abs over punching bags any day.” Skye replied with a smirk, poking him in the chest.

Ward scoff and quickly walked off, returning with a small towel around his neck and a water bottle clenched tightly in his right hand, “You know that you’ve got to exercise what you are now, right?” he asked.

“Didn’t we do that this morning?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt to get even more training in.”

“Well, I say no.” Skye smiled, continuing to stare at his ripped figure. His skin glistened with heavy sweat and his normally spiked hair hung down onto his forehead. “I’m good with one round of training for today. Grant, you almost died just a few days ago and now you’re pushing yourself way too hard.”

Ward shrugged, “It doesn’t hurt, so I’m good.” he replied, waving a dismissive hand. “And I haven’t dropped to the ground yet.” He leaned in towards Skye, but she leaned backwards with a finger held up.

“Oh, no. You’re not getting near me until you shower off.” she protested. “You’re absolutely covered in sweat and you smell like a dirty dog. Go shower, then we can talk.”

A smirk pulled at Ward’s lips, “Unless you, you know, would like to join me?” he asked, a hint of mischievousness in his voice. “Because I’m completely fine with that.”

“Alright, now we are talking.” Skye replied with a smirk. “Because,”

“Skye, Grant!”

The two wolves looked up to see Coulson standing above them on the catwalk, his arms crossed. It was obvious that he was trying to avoid the sight of his son shirtless in front of Skye.

“What?” Ward called, frowning. “You’re killing the mood here, dad!”

Coulson frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Son, I do not want to know what ‘mood’ that is. Mission briefing in twenty. Everyone needs to be there.” he stated. “Don’t be late.”

“Alright.”

Coulson sighed and left them, “I don’t even want to know.” he grumbled as he disappeared.

Ward turned back to Skye, “Now, where were we?” he smirked.

“Our vibe just got killed by your adoptive father. And you were just about to get cleaned up and I was going to join you.” Skye blinked, “And our time’s just gotten cut short. So if you want to get on with it, you better hurry up.”

A smile pulled at Ward’s lips as he threw the towel and bottle aside, taking Skye’s hand, “They’re gonna have to wait. We’ve got better things to do.”

Skye smiled but didn’t reply as they left the hangar.

She could get used to this new life with Ward. And this was a life that would last for a long time to come.

* * *

 

 

(Three Years Later)

“Cade, son, don’t pull on the dog’s tail like that.” Ward said in an exasperated voice as he scooped up his two year old son. “I don’t think that Buddy will find that very nice.

The black-haired boy looked his father in the eyes, “I just playing, Daddy.” he whimpered. “Buddy likes to play.”

“Well, not like that. That hurts him. Do you see Ava doing that?”

“No.”

“Exactly. I don’t want to see you pulling on Buddy like that again, okay?”

“Otay.”

Ward sighed as he placed down his son and watched as he ran straight back to Buddy, but at least he picked up the dog’s ball and started throwing it to the brown lab across the yard.

“Did Cade get in trouble again?”

Ward turned to see his wife coming towards him, holding Ava’s hand, “Yes.” he replied gruffly.

“What did brotha do?” Ava asked in a small voice. The brown-haired girl looked up to Ward as he scooped her up.

“He was hurting Buddy, but he didn’t mean it. Just being a little too, rough. That’s all.” he explained the best way he could to the two year old. Now, his children were extremely smart, but they still didn’t have the best vocabulary in the world. “He didn’t mean it.” he said, placing a kiss on the little girl’s cheek.

Ava stuck her bottom lip out, “He hurted Buddy?!” she exclaimed. “No hurtin’ Buddy!”

“Ava, he didn’t mean it.” he replied, placing her down. “Now, go play with your brother and Buddy. I’ve got to talk to Mommy.”

“’Kay.”

He smiled as he watched the little girl run off towards her twin brother and the dog. Shaking his head, he turned back to Skye, “They’re a handful, aren’t they?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her torso and drawing her close.

“Grant, they’re two. They’re in the ‘terrible twos’. And they’re both half-wolf, so there’s no telling what that’s doing to their behavior. That’s probably why they are wild most of the time. They’re practically puppies to put it in simple terms.” Skye explained, kissing her husband’s cheek. “Okay, so what did you want me for?” she asked. “You said that there was something that you wanted to tell me.”

“Oh, yeah.” He drew away from Skye. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, since a few months back. I’ve decided that I’m going to return to SHIELD and the team. Dad’s still got it going, even though there are a few more additions to it. He said that we were welcomed back at any time. SHIELD’s done so much for us.

 They’ve provided our house, our income, and just about anything we need. I know I said that we didn’t need to be reliant on them for forever, but it was my job, Skye.” he continued. “Being a spy is about the only thing I know how to do. The kids are about to go into preschool and soon they’ll be in elementary school. It’s about time I start working again.

I know that you’ll stay here with them for a little while longer. It’s just that I’m too restless. I’ve got to be doing something. I’ve already talked to dad and I’m going to meet him the day after tomorrow about reinstating my full agent status.”

“You’re sure about this?” Skye asked, crossing her arms. “I thought that you wanted to stay home with the kids for a while.”

“I thought that I did, but I can’t let go of old habits. Dad will get it to where I can come home most nights since the team is stationed at an actual base nearby now. The only times when I won’t come home is when I’m on missions.” Ward fiddled with his wedding band, something he did as a result of anxiety. “I just want to know what you think about it.”

“Grant, I’m perfectly fine with it if that’s what you really want. I’m not stopping you. Yes, I’ll stay at home with the kids until they get into school, but I don’t want to stop you. That’s what you grew up doing, SHIELD.” Skye stated, her eyes drifting to their two young children, whom of which were still playing with the dog. “Do what you want to. And I know that the team misses you. It’s just that I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Ward drew his wife close again, “I promise, I will come home safe and sound every single night. I will come home every single night to hug my children and lay beside you in bed. I can’t abandon my pack.” He kissed her, lacing his fingers through her soft hair. “I won’t let myself get hurt.”

“You promise?” she asked.

“I promise.”

Skye kissed him again and she turned her attention to little Ava and Cade, “Come on, guys!” she yelled. “It’s time for dinner and you two need to get cleaned up!”

“I don’t wanna!” Cade yelled, running from them.

Ward rolled his eyes and sighed, taking off after the two kids. With a few fast motions, he had them cornered and had his massive arms wrapped around them and hoisted them into the air. “Your mother means it, guys. Time to clean and eat.”

They squirmed in his arms, but his strong grip kept them in place. He shook his head and headed towards the house, “Get the door, will you babe?” he called, Skye walking past him and sliding open the back door. She followed them to the bathroom and she stood in the doorway.

Skye watched as her husband worked to undress their children and started the bath. She groaned as Ward placed them in the tub and Cade splashed water into the air. “Grant?”

“Yes?”

“Reminder to never have any more children.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I hope that that was a sufficient ending to the story! I decided to pair the ending and the future epilogue together to go ahead and finish this up. And if you are wondering, the kid's full names are Ava Rose Ward and Caden Phillip Ward. So I hope that you enjoyed this all! Keep the comments and kudos coming!

**Author's Note:**

> Just some random idea that popped up since Werewolf! Ward has always been a favorite of mine. Follow me on Tumblr @gears-of-ward!


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